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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27839893">Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_one_n_only_54/pseuds/the_one_n_only_54'>the_one_n_only_54</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>4 Muffinteers, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Fast &amp; Furious AU, Frenemies to Friends, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, No beta we all die like Tubbo in the Festival, OTHER MCYT CHARACTERS ARE THERE TOO, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Author Regrets Nothing, They aren't complete enemies, They'll be friends soon, everybody is a BAMF, everybody is awesome, mission impossible au, sleepy bois inc - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:53:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27839893</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_one_n_only_54/pseuds/the_one_n_only_54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Dream Team were a group of 4 notorious criminals, who did your usual crimes, such as robbing banks, breaking into vaults, etc. Except, they weren't exactly who you would call 'criminals'. Because unlike usual criminals, they didn't loot a bank and keep the money for themselves. Instead, they'd rob from businessmen with fat wallets and (possibly) corrupt money and then give them away at anonymous at auctions or charities.<br/>So they weren't exactly 'criminals', per say... more like 'sneaky philanthropists'.<br/>And when they weren't robbing banks, they were your typical street racers whirring in the streets at night in sweet cars.</p><p>So suddenly one night was enough to turn their lives around. Instead of living their normal road lives, they're suddenly thrown into a mission to save the world. Wait, what? Diffusing bombs, stealing encrypted data, spy bunks, role playing... huh?</p><p>Cue in the Sleepy Bois and a boy who loves his bees...</p><p>---</p><p>AKA The Mission Impossible/Fast &amp; Furious AU nobody asked for</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; Darryl Noveschosch, Clay | Dream &amp; Dave | Technoblade, Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound, Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound &amp; Darryl Noveschosch &amp; Sapnap, Clay | Dream &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Dave | Technoblade &amp; Wilbur Soot &amp; TommyInnit &amp; Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit, all canon friendships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>200</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Cover Me With Diamonds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm not really sure how I got the idea, but I just did, here it is!<br/>I think the idea's pretty cool- a Mission Impossible/Fast &amp; Furious AU with the MCYT. Haven't seen many fics 'bout that, so thought I'd give it a try!<br/>This idea had come to me at 3:14 AM in the night, and wouldn't. leave. me. alone! So I just had to get it out.<br/>Overall, I think I did okay?<br/>Also, a few things- I don't ship any of them together. Dunno why, just doesn't sit that well with me.</p><p>I hope y'all enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>"You've got 120 seconds till the alarms sound,"</em> George's voice came through his earpiece.</p><p>"Gotcha," Dream replied. He gave a thumbs-up upwards, signalling Sapnap that they were good to go, who then started to slowly lower him down from the air vent.</p><p>Now, you might be wondering, <em>'Why on earth was he was getting lowered down from an air vent?'</em></p><p>...the answer may or may not have something to do with the fact that he was stealing a diamond.</p><p> </p><p>Yep, that's right. He was stealing a diamond. Him, Dream, was stealing a <em>diamond</em>. A 4.3-pound, round-cut diamond roughly the size of a basketball, and worth a <em>lot</em> (think 8 figures). And it wasn't just any diamond either. It was, as what they had dubbed, a <em>black</em> diamond. The diamond wasn't black in color; they had named it because it was bought by corrupt 'black' money. This diamond had been put on display by Dazzlers Inc., one of the biggest jewellery industries in the continent, and one of the biggest names on the Dream Team's radar list. The company had been in their view for quite a while now. It had been conducting trades and taking money from the black markets, and using the same money to bribe other jewellers into giving them their products in return for large sums of money. Then they'd sell of the taken jewels for prizes higher than its normal price and gain in profit. Like the diamond they were displaying? It belonged to another company known as Diamond Nest. But here they were, selling it under their name. Their plan was pretty smart and thought through, Dream had to admit.</p><p>So it really was a bummer that they were gonna foil their plans now. Aw shucks.</p><p>Dream spread his hands and legs outwards, distributing his weight and keeping himself balanced. He was wearing a black harness, and a bungee chord was clipped to it using a carabiner. The chord was attached to a pulley system which Sapnap was operating from the vents, slowly lowering him down. While him and Sapnap were in the room, George was sitting behind the monitors, scrambling the cameras, and Bad was disguised as a security personnel in front of the room, with a uniform and fake ID and all. The diamond winked at him from the middle of the room.</p><p>Dream felt as though he was descending from heaven. Is this what Jesus felt like?</p><p><em>Focus,</em> he told himself. He looked back downwards and almost yelped. The ground was a lot closer now, and <em>wow is that diamond shiny. Was it always so shiny? And big? </em></p><p>He could feel his heart start to race a bit.</p><p><em>Breathe,</em> he told himself. <em>Everything's gonna be fine. Sap's with you, George's at the screens, and Bad's right outside. It's all gonna work out. Everything's gonna be fine.</em></p><p>Dream wasn't really sure why he was so nervous. Maybe because they hadn't really done something as big as this before. But they had broken into money vaults before, so this can't be that different...?</p><p>
  <em>All you gotta do is get the diamond. Easy peasy. You can do it.</em>
</p><p>Besides, even if the cameras rebooted (he knew that was never gonna happen; George was the best hacker he had ever met, and he trusted him with his life) they wouldn't be able to see what he looks like. Because his face was always covered with a mask. A white porcelain mask with 2 dots for eyes and a curve for a smiley. A smiley face wasn't really all that eye-popping, but it had pretty much become part of his signature look. Right now the mask was pushed up his face because he was focusing on gem in the center of the room, but his face was covered with a black mask that had started from the bridge of his nose, went down his face and under his jaw. The only thing that was visible of his face were his bright green eyes. All 4 of them wore the masks, along with black turtleneck bodysuits, black gloves, black pants and combat boots. Everything black, just like the song. However, each of them had some accessory to distinguish themselves from the others. Dream had his porcelain mask and wore a bright lime green hoodie on top of his turtleneck. Sapnap wore a half sleeves white tee over his bodysuit with the emblem of a flame on the chest, and a thin strip of white bandana tied around his forehead. George wore a sky-blue t-shirt with a thin red rectangle over the chest with the words <em>GeorgeNotFound</em> written in white over it (think of the Supreme logo) and a pair of white-framed goggles that covered his eyes entirely. Bad, like Dream, wore a hoodie, which was black in color with red stripes running by the sides, his hoodie usually drawn. Now that he thought of it, he had to admit, they <em>did</em> look pretty damn awesome.</p><p>
  <em>Get back to the task in hand right now, get an ego boost later Dream.</em>
</p><p>Task to do. Right.</p><p><em>"100 seconds,"</em> George's voice filtered through, and Dream hummed back in acknowledgement. He looked down; the diamond was only at a meter's distance from his face. </p><p>Time to get back to work.</p><p>The diamond was inside a glass case. Dream slowly moved one of his hands downwards, tensing his body so that he didn't lose balance and flip over. With a finger, he tapped the upper panel of the glass box. Yep, it was solid bullet-proof glass alright. But it wasn't <em>laser</em>-proof, now, was it?</p><p>Honestly, these people never learned.</p><p>He drew back his hand, brought inwards, and slowly patted down his body, feeling around his waist until his fingers came in touch with the utility belt wrapped around his waist. He moved his hands horizontally, and his fingers came in contact with something thin and cold. He wrapped is fingers around it and pulled out the metal laser pen. Bringing it to his mouth, he yanked open the cap with his teeth, trying not to jerk his head back too hard. Positioning the pen between his fingers, he brought it down onto the glass panel and clicked the button on the back of the pen. Red light shot out from the tip of the pen, winking on the glass, before the laser started to penetrate the surface.</p><p>He carefully moved his hand in a circle, cutting a hole into the box. His other hand gripped the edge of the box, and the metal cap clenched hard between his teeth.</p><p>He couldn't let the cap drop.</p><p><em>"90 seconds."</em> Dream gave a muffled <em>mh-hm </em>in response.</p><p>If he dropped the cap on the floor, it was game over.</p><p>Because the floor had fucking pressure pads on the floor.</p><p>Of <em>course</em> it did. This was a world class they were talking about, worth 8<em> damn figures</em>- it was bound to have more security measures than metal walls and bouncers standing at the door. And it did. It had pressure pads. Then it had a temperature sensor, that could detect temperature change as minute as 0.05C. The room was kept at 27.5°C at all times- if there was a slightest change in temperature the security alarms would get triggered. Then there was a laser-point system. It wasn't your friendly neighbourhood arcade game of laser tag- more like laser tag with lasers sharp enough to cut through you like a knife cutting through butter, that would then set off the alarms.</p><p>So how was he still alive, you ask? Well, hallelujah for GeorgeNotFound. The man had scrambled the cameras, disengaged the lasers, and disabled the temperature sensors. Unfortunately, the pressure pads had a physical mechanism for extra insurance, so there was nothing they could do about it from behind the monitors. Which was the reason why Dream was suspended 5 feet in the air, and not simply for the kicks.</p><p>It was a little funny, how they had installed world-class technological security measures, 4-inches thick metal walls, and a fleet of security surrounding the building in which the diamond was, but didn't care to think about the drainage and air vents. Not that he was complaining- that was awesome for them.</p><p>Dream had finished cutting the hole into the glass. He pulled back his hands, lifted his finger from the button on the pen, took the metal cap from between his teeth and capped it, and slid the pen back into his utility belt. He put 4 fingers over the cut circle and gave it a slight push; the glass gave away. Before the glass disc could fall into the box, Dream slipped his fingers underneath it and neatly pulled it it, and placed it on the marble table that had the box mounted on it. Then he put his hands inside the box through the hole, body quivering in anticipation, and lifted the diamond out.</p><p>The diamond was heavy, about the weight of a watermelon, and it was freakin' <em>gorgeous</em>. The various edges and angles cut into the gem refracted the white light that fell upon it, throwing small rainbows in its wake. It flashed with light, almost blinding him. He ran a hand over it- the designing was so minute and intricate-</p><p>
  <em>"Give it up to me before you kiss the damn thing."</em>
</p><p>Dream jerked, arms tightening around the diamond and eyes darting around the room before he realised the voice had come through his earpiece.</p><p>"Jesus, Sapnap," he hissed. "I almost dropped it!"</p><p>
  <em>"Well, I had to say something before you started drooling over it!"</em>
</p><p><em>"60 seconds, guys," </em>George urged.</p><p>Dream aimed a glare at the vents where Sapnap was sitting, before sighing and hoisting the diamond up.</p><p>"Alright," he said. "Get ready to catch." And then threw the diamond up.</p><p>To see someone throw a diamond worth $1 million in the air like a basketball was enough to give anyone a heart-attack, but lucky for Dream, he knew what he was doing. They had practiced and had done tossing things at each other, so he knew the amount of thrust that was required and the angle his arm needed to be bended in.</p><p>The diamond shot upwards, directly perpendicular to the floor with perfect momentum, flashing like a disco ball for a brief second as it captured the lights in the room, before reaching Sapnap's outstretched hand with a neat <em>swish.</em></p><p><em>"Are you guys done?" </em>Bad's voice came through the comms- he'd been quiet on team speak for the bout, which was good as it showed there was no trouble at the doors.</p><p><em>"Almost,"</em> Sapnap replied. <em>"Got what we came for, just gotta plant the decoy. You ready, Dream?"</em></p><p>"Yeah," Dream said, stretching his hands forwards. "Drop it."</p><p>Naturally, if they had come to rob something, they needed to leave a replica in its place- a decoy model. That was pretty much the Spy Rule 101.</p><p>He set his shoulders tight and firmed his hands, preparing for the decoy to drop down. His eyes were set straight ahead- they had come this far, he <em>could</em> <em>not</em> drop it.</p><p>There was a familiar swishing sound cutting through the air and Dream looked up slightly to see the decoy drop down. He lurched forwards slightly and caught it in his hands, fingers tight around it. </p><p>He could feel the tension lift up from his shoulders.</p><p>Didn't drop it. <em>Phew.</em></p><p>The decoy was almost exactly similar to the actual diamond- 4.3 pounds, round cut, size of a basketball. The only 2 differences was that it was made of glass, and had something extra in it- a playing card embedded right in its center.</p><p>The Dream Team always left one of their cards everywhere they had paid a little visit to. If they were gonna do their work, they were obviously gonna do it with <em>style. </em>The cards were like their way of graffiti-ing a place, leaving a little mark that said they were there.</p><p>Their cards looked pretty much like the normal poker cards, but they were a little different. For starters, they were black instead of white, and the art differed. The cards ranged from <em>1, 2, 3...10, K, Q, J,</em> just like the playing cards, but that was about it. The card which was present in the center of their decoy model was the <em>Joker</em>, Dream's personal favorite. The card had the word <em>Joker</em> running up and down on either side of it, the text white. In the center of the card was an image of Dream himself. The picture was from his head down to his chest, in which he was in his signature outfit- green sweatshirt and white mask. A wave of his dirty blond hair peeked out from under his hoodie. One of his fingers was brought up to the smile of his mask, held up, as if to say <em>shh. </em>At the back of the card, there was no art- it was plain black except for a message in white typewriter font; they left a message on each of the cards. This one said <em>'Santa's left a present for all you good little kids!'</em>. And they had; but that was something he'd laugh on with the rest of his friends later. </p><p>Right now he had to set the decoy model.</p><p><em>"45 seconds left,"</em> George said urgently, and Dream nodded.</p><p>He leaned forward and carefully lowered the replica down into the glass box, fitting its tip into the diamond stand, then pulled his arms out. Looking down, his hands fumbled with one of the zips in his belt as he dug inside one of the sections and pulled out the special <em>present</em>. Giving it a once-over, he set it onto the table.</p><p>"Pull me up, Snapmap," Dream said into the comms.</p><p><em>"You call me 'Snapmap' again and we're gonna have issues,"</em> Sapnap warned, but started to pull him up nevertheless. Dream grinned behind his mask, then looked down as the floor started to go farther away from him- <em>they were actually getting away with this!</em></p><p><em>"Watch the ceiling,"</em> Sapnap called out, and Dream immediately looked upwards- the vent was right above his head. He raised his arms and gripped the sides of the vent and pulled himself up. He felt Sapnap's hands grip the fabric of his sweatshirt as he pulled him as well. Dream felt the mechanism of the pulley hit his leg, the metal slightly scraping at his knee as he got into the vent.</p><p>"We're out!" Sapnap said in the earpiece just as George said, <em>"30 seconds!"</em></p><p>"Quick, cover the vent!" Dream said and Sapnap nodded, picking up the metal grate that was lying a few inches away from him and setting above the vent, the metal giving a small <em>kshunk</em> as it fell into place.</p><p>He quickly unclipped the harness and pulled it away from his body, while Sapnap gathered up the pulley and bungee chord and shoved it inside a black backpack they had brought with them. He took the harness from his hands and shoved it in, then zipped it up.</p><p>"Diamond?" Dream asked.</p><p>"In the bag- now move!" Sapnap gave him a light push from behind as they both speed-crawled though the air ducts, trying to go as fast and noiselessly as they could.</p><p><em>"Everything's normal here- nobody suspects anything. Meet you all at the truck!"</em> Bad said cheerfully into the comms.</p><p>Crawling fast and noiselessly on all fours wasn't as easy as it seemed- lucky for them, they'd had practice. All of them had lean bodies, so they could fit into tiny places. Dream was a tall guy, so sometimes things would get a little clustered for him, but the vents were pretty spacious. Dream was at the front, taking the lead and going using the map in his head- he had learnt the way out by heart.</p><p>
  <em>15 paces straight ahead, take a left, move 7 paces, go right, take another immediate right, crawl 26 paces up front and then stop.</em>
</p><p>Dream looked up to see a passage above his head, a metal ladder going up one side. Covering it was a metal trapdoor, which lead to the roof of the building. From there they were gonna find the garbage disposal chute, slide down 27 floors and land right into the back of the truck that George was sitting in. Bad, being a building official, would then give their truck 'permission' to leave, before hiking a ride, and then all 4 of them would drive into the sunset.</p><p>Perfect planning, just like he liked it.</p><p>"This is it, huh?" Sapnap said from behind him. Dream turned around (or turned around as much as he could in the narrow passage) to see Sapnap looking up at the vent, eyes sparkling. Dream couldn't see his mouth, but he was pretty sure he was grinning.</p><p>"Yep," Dream replied, unable to hold back a smile of his own.</p><p>"Can't believe we're doing this."</p><p>"Trust me, neither can I."</p><p>They nodded at each other, before Dream grabbed the edges of the ladder and pulled himself up. His fingers gripped each rail as he quickly climbed up, Sapnap right behind him. He slammed his forearm into the trapdoor, causing it to flip backwards, as he scrambled out, quickly helping Sapnap out as they both broke out onto the roof. The fresh gust of wind hit him in the face, causing his hair to fly back. From the rooftop, he could see the entire skyline- the skyscrapers standing up straight and tall, slight shadows forming on their navy windows due to the slowly sinking sun. The sunrise was beautiful, almost as though it were out of a painting- the sky a canvas of soft pastel colors, a gradient of yellows, oranges, pinks and blues. Wispy clouds were strewed across the evening sky like pieces of candy floss. He wished he could enjoy it longer, but now was not the time.</p><p><em>"10 seconds guys, make it or break it!"</em> George shouted in.</p><p>Dream's head snapped up, eyes falling onto the black garbage chute 5 feet away from him.</p><p>"Come on!" Dream yelled, pulling down his mask over his face and grabbing Sapnap by his arm and dragging him forward, as George said <em>"<strong>9!"</strong></em></p><p><strong><em>"8!"</em> </strong>Both men ran across the rooftop.</p><p><strong><em>"7!"</em> </strong>The rubber soles of their boots slapped against the concrete top.</p><p><strong><em>"6!"</em> </strong>They reached the edge of the chute.</p><p><strong><em>"5!"</em></strong> Dream dropped in, his body shooting down the chute and reminding him of one of those waterslides he went in as a kid.</p><p><strong><em>"4!"</em> </strong>All he could see was the silver metal walls of the chute around him.</p><p><strong><em>"3!"</em></strong> One of Sapnap's feet jabbed him in the shoulder. </p><p><strong><em>"2!"</em></strong> Dream felt his feet stick out from the end of the tube- <em>they were almost out-</em></p><p><strong><em>"ONE!"</em></strong> His body fell into a pile of garbage bags, as he landed on his feet and then fell forward onto his front. He could feel the outline of a soda can nudge him in his stomach, and something soft support his head. Next to him, he felt the bags dip downwards as a weight pushed them in, and then saw Sapnap fall next to him on his back. Dream flipped onto his back to see the top of the garbage truck close, but not before a 3rd figure slipped in. He saw the body land on his other side, dressed in security uniform, and as the figure turned around, saw Bad's face look at him with a wide smile on his face; his black face mask was pulled off.</p><p>"You complete <em>muffin-heads!"</em> he exclaimed, pulling Dream into a quick happy hug, and then going over his body to do the same to Sapnap. "You actually did it!"</p><p>"Yeah," Dream replied; he suddenly felt light-headed. "We actually did it!"</p><p><em>"Whoo!"</em> Sapnap whooped from besides him. "Let's go!"</p><p><em>"Let's gooooo!"</em> George hollered from ahead, where he was seated and driving.</p><p>Shouts and cheers filled the air, going through Dream's head that was buzzing from the feel of adrenaline slowly seeping away. He took off his porcelain mask and threw it behind him, and pulled down his black mask. Cool air hit his slightly sweaty skin and the wide smile that was stretched across his face.</p><p>They actually did it! <em>They actually did it! They stole the diamond! </em></p><p>"Let's fucking <em>go!"</em> Dream shouted, giving a burst of laughter at the end. He heard Bad peep out a small 'language!', but he could tell by his voice that he was too happy to actually care.</p><p>
  <em>THEY DID IT!</em>
</p><p>Then, he felt 2 pairs of arms crush him from either sides.</p><p>"Bro that was awesome!" Sapnap's muffled voice came from down his chest.</p><p>"Yeah Dream, well done!" Bad said from the other side.</p><p>"Dream pooooog!" George sang. Dream could feel himself blush at all the compliments.</p><p>"C'mon guys, this was a team effort," he said, slightly flustered. "You all were great!"</p><p>"Yeah, but you were the one doing the actual stealing bit and hanging down from walls like frickin' Spider-man!" George said.</p><p>"But if you hadn't disabled the security systems, I would have been pretty much as good as dead." he pointed out.</p><p>"Ok, now that's true," George agreed, and Dream laughed. </p><p>"Hey, now that we're done with the stealing, let's admire that shiny-ass thang," Sapnap said, already extracting his arms to turn around and grab the black bag which he had thrown to the side.</p><p>"Language, Nick," Bad said frowning.</p><p>"Ooh, Mommy's mad!" Dream snickered, as Bad lightly smacked him on the head.</p><p>"Hush it, you little muffin." </p><p>"Hold on!" George said, his voice distressed. "Don't get the show started on without me!"</p><p>There was a shifting sound, and Dream tilted his head all the way back to see the small slide door on the partition between the back and the front of the dump-truck, and George's head poke out. Dream gave a disbelieving scoff.</p><p>"No way you're climbing in from there."</p><p>"Yes way," George replied, starting to push his body through. Dream stared at him incredulously.</p><p>"George, I know you're thin, but it's not possible to fit through such a small space." </p><p>"Clay, we just stole a diamond. Pretty sure anything's possible now," George's arms came out, and he pushed his upper body out.</p><p>"But- who's driving the truck then?" </p><p>"Nobody," George squeaked. He wriggled his entire body through, only giving a warning of 'move it, green boy!' before dropping down. Dream immediately sat up and scooted forward as George belly-flopped right where his face had been a few seconds ago. Looking up at Dream's wary face, he replied.</p><p>"I pulled over to the side," he explained.</p><p>"You stopped so close to the building already?"</p><p>"In an underpass, near some maintenance work."</p><p>"Underpass? The nearest underpass is like-"</p><p>"1 mile away, I know. I can drive fast, remember?"</p><p>Dream chuckled. "Can't forget that now, can I?"</p><p>"Guys," Sapnap said. He was sitting up, propping the bag onto his lap. Dream could feel everybody's eyes snap onto the bag, awaiting for the unveiling.</p><p>He lifted his hands up, rubbing them in anticipation. One hand descended down onto the bag, patting it and finding the zip.</p><p><em>"Wait for iiiiiit,"</em> he said dramatically, fingers tightening around the zipper, then gave it a tug. The zip slide down smoothly, and there was a faint wink from inside the bag as gem hiding inside somehow managed to shine without any light in the truck. Sapnap thrust his hands inside down to his elbows, tightly gripped, and then pulled out the diamond. </p><p>"4.3 pounds, round-cut, and worth 8 figures," George whispered from beside him, voice filled with awe.</p><p>"And <em>fucking</em> <em>beautiful,"</em> Sapnap breathed, glossing one hand over its top while the other supported it on top of the bag on his lap. Bad didn't even correct his language.</p><p><em>"Holy frick,"  </em>Bad said with reverence.</p><p>Dream remained silent as all of them held their breathes, looking at the million dollar gem sitting amongst them 4 common people, who perhaps couldn't earn that much in a lifetime- he certainly couldn't. Their breathings sounded like heavy pants in the silence.</p><p>"When we give it to charity," Dream said softly. "Imagine how many kids that would help."</p><p>All of them looked at him, then back at the diamond, the mood shifting from awe to a soft, warm feeling.</p><p>"10 million dollars is enough to help half the homeless kids in US," George said, smiling.</p><p>"More than half," Sapnap said. "Maybe all."</p><p>"Imagine how many lives that would change," Bad said. "How happy the kids would be, to have a new life."</p><p>"A happy life." </p><p>All of them laid back, staring at the green plastic ceiling of the truck, their minds somewhere else. Every time they stole, they were sure to donate it to people who needed it more than those who previously owned it, giving it to charities and fundraising auctions anonymously. They did keep a little for themselves, but they mostly helped others out. The police knew that, at least most of them did, which is why most of them didn't make much of an effort to catch them. They weren't thieves, exactly, more like 'sneaky philanthropists', per say.</p><p>"It feels nice," George said. Dream looked at him. "Doing all of this, y'know, helping others out."</p><p>"Sort of makes us like Santa in a way," Sapnap said, grinning.</p><p>"Handing out presents to all those good little muffins," Bad giggled, and they all laughed.</p><p>"Thinking of presents, though," George said, his voice getting a bit more attentive. "Dream, what was the <em>'</em><em>present'</em> you left behind for the cops?"</p><p>"Yeah, you never told us what it was Dre," Sapnap said, poking him from beside him. Dream swatted his hand away and Sapnap stuck out his tongue.</p><p>"Oh yeah, about that," Dream gave them a lopsided grin. "George, go get the laptop."</p><p>"What?" George whined. "I gotta go back again? Just tell us already!"</p><p>"Nope," Dream insisted. "Get the laptop, it's much better that way, I promise you won't regret it!"</p><p>George grumbled under his breathe, but begrudgingly got up and trudged back to the slot in the partition, hoisting himself up. Dream could feel his smile grow ridiculously big- the 'present' was stupid, but it was a funny joke. They waited for George to come back, Bad humming under his breathe on his side. When George finally did come back, dropping down from the slot (and shaking the world in its wake), Dream turned towards him.</p><p>George flipped open the laptop and turned it on, and the blue bar on the screen went up as it slowly booted up. </p><p>"Got it," George said. "What do you want me to do now?"</p><p>"You still got access to the cameras of the tower?" Dream asked, leaning in. They had all sat up, and were now all looking at the screen.</p><p>"Uh, yeah I think so," George said, a little confused. "Why?"</p><p>"Just open it up," Dream urged. George warily extended forward, before his fingers flew over the keyboard, keys silently clacking. Soon, a window popped up, and they saw live CCTV footages take up the screen.</p><p>"Go to the room footage of where the diamond was," Dream said. George frowned.</p><p>"The police are there now-"</p><p>"I know, just trust me on this and do it."</p><p>The white cursor on the screen moved and clicked on top of one of the footages, and they saw the footage roll of the room they had broken into. The room was pretty much how they had left it, except for a few modifications. For one, there were around 9 blue uniform-clad officials in the room wearing black gloves. In the center stood who seemed like the head of the police squad- a guy with a ginger moustache in his mid-30's, holding himself with certain authority. He had olive skin and a slightly burly figure, and was fairly tall, somewhere around Sapnap's height. The reason they knew he was the head because he was Officer Jonathan Kowalski, or<em> 'Johnny Boy'</em> as they liked to call him. Him and his police force were one of the handful of policemen who <em>did</em> want to catch, and they ran into each other a lot. Currently, Kowalski was barking at one of the policemen, a newbie by the looks of it since Dream didn't recognise him, demanding how they weren't able to catch them. Another change was that the diamond replica now lay smashed on the floor, and the card was in Kowalski's hand which he waved around as he continued to yell at the other official.</p><p>"Ooh, looks like <em>somebody's</em> upset," George said in a taunting tone.</p><p>"Calm down, Johnny boy, or you're gonna bust a nut," Sapnap leered. </p><p><em>"How could you not catch them?!"</em> Kowalski screamed. Even through the footage, they could see his face was beet red from being worked up. The official in front of him flinched.</p><p><em>"We-we don't know sir,"</em> he replied meekly. <em>"We had taken all measures-"</em></p><p><em>"Did you set up the security systems?"</em> Kowalski bellowed.</p><p><em>"Y-es sir! We had activated all of them- the laser system, sensory pads, even the temperature sensors!"</em> Dream honestly felt bad for the guy- it wasn't really his fault.</p><p><em>"Shit the fancy words,"</em> the senior spat. <em>"Did you assholes keep an eye on the air vents?"</em></p><p>At that the other official froze, eyes widening before snapping down, staring intensely at the tiles of the floor.</p><p>
  <em>"What was that? Didn't catch you."</em>
</p><p><em>"N-no sir,"</em> the younger official squeaked. Kowalski's eyes bugged out at that. <em>"W-we didn't think of it."</em></p><p><em>"You didn't-"</em> Kowalski started incredulously. He broke off, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment and pinching the bridge of his nose while the Dream Team cackled with laughter.</p><p><em>"You didn't- How could you <strong>not</strong> check the fucking vents?!"</em> The older official's voice was close to a caterwaul. Dream had tears in his eyes; he was pretty much wheezing at this point.</p><p><em>"We didn't think of it s-sir,"</em> the poor guy repeated, his voice so meek and squeaky it seemed like he had inhaled helium. Kowalski wailed, looking one second away from tearing his hair out. Yep, Dream was wheezing alright. The others didn't seem to do any better.</p><p><em>"Sir!"</em> There was a stronger voice, and Kowalski whipped around to look at who it was. Next to him stood a tall lanky guy with shiny white blond hair that had been combed through so many times it pretty much looked pressed down. His uniform looked brand-new and ironed, with not a single crease. That was Kowalski's right hand man, Ross Fletcher. </p><p><em>"What is it?"</em> Kowalski growled. <em>"Tell me you found something worthwhile."</em></p><p><em>"We did find something sir,"</em> Ross's voice was wary. <em>"But... we're not sure what to make of it-"</em></p><p><em>"JUST GIVE IT TO ME!"</em> Kowalski roared, and Ross immediately held out a plastic container in a black latex glove-clad hand.</p><p><em>"It was next to the fake, on the table, sir,"</em> Ross said as Kowalski grabbed it out of his hand, turning it over at examining it for a few seconds. Then, he stared back at Ross, who squirmed slightly on the spot.</p><p>
  <em>"What the fuck is this, Fletcher."</em>
</p><p>Kowalski's voice was so deadpanned that Dream literally had to bite the inside of his mouth from not screaming out laughing again.</p><p>
  <em>"It- it's a box of Play-Doh, sir."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I know it's fucking Play-Doh, what I'm asking is what the fuck does this mean?"</em>
</p><p>That's when Dream couldn't hold it- he burst out wheezing once again, doubling over. The others were in several stages of processing what they had seen. Bad had his brow wrinkled, the corner of his mouth quirked up, as though he knew there was a joke, but wasn't sure what it was. George's eyes were wide, mouth hanging open, as it hit him. Sapnap was laughing alongside him, slapping his knee so hard Dream knew it must've hurt.</p><p>"You-" George said, his tone incredulous, voice shaking slightly as he was trying to suppress a laugh. "You left him Play-Doh?"</p><p>"Yep," was all Dream could let out before he broke into another volley of wheezes, George joining him this time.</p><p>On screen, Kowalski let out an animalistic cry, which did absolutely <em>nothing</em> to help Dream's laughter.</p><p>"Wait," Bad said, still sounding confused, just as Sapnap choked out <em>"I can't believe you actually- ahahahAAA!"</em>. "I don't get it. What's the joke?"</p><p>Dream coughed, the laughter rendering him useless for the next few moments. George and Sapnap were in no fit stage to answer. He finally managed to compose himself, only slightly calming down.</p><p>"So-" he hiccuped. "Y-y'know how my name's Clay right?"</p><p>"Yeah?" Bad answered. Dream giggled.</p><p>"So I thought- I thought that I'd leave him some Play-Doh, because it's clay, an-and my name's-"</p><p>"Clay!" Bad finished, his face splitting into a blinding grin. "Oh god, you little potato, you completely <em>meme-d</em> him!"</p><p>Dream gave another (completely manly) giggle, smiling stupidly.</p><p>"You," George sniggered. "Are an <em>idiot."</em></p><p>"Can't disagree there," Dream sang, and all of them laughed, while Kowalski howled out, <em>"WHAT THE FUCK DO I TO WITH CLAY?"</em></p><p> </p><p>And that's how they stayed for a while, laughing inside the back of a dump truck with a diamond the size of a basketball over a box of clay, just 4 friends living a normal life on a normal day.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Then the night would come. And they'd have to get back before it fell dark. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Because that's when the cars came out. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>And that's when they'd race.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Acquire Hardware (Time To Roll)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys reach home. We get a look into their lifestyle and where they live.<br/>And of course, they go racing.<br/>The Sleepy Bois and Tubbo make their appearance...</p><p> </p><p>(Disclaimer: I've taken names of a couple of other MCYT members. They won't play any main role in the fic, but they will make appearances!)</p><p>(Read the author notes before you start!)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whooo! Let's watch 'em gas their cars and raaaaaace!<br/>(This is a really long chapter by the way heh)</p><p>IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU START, though! I have attached a few links of pictures for better visualisation of the story (i like going full-out, blame me), but they WON'T ALWAYS BE ACCURATE! the pictures are just to give you a little idea for better imagery and better experience of the story, but read the way I've described the things too! The description and images won't always match, cuz Google can't read my mind and paint out the exact picture, sadly.<br/>And I know NOTHING about cars! Zilch! Nada! So please don't judge me!</p><p>Hope y'all enjoy chapter two!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">"We there?" Sapnap asked from behind the truck.</p><p class="p1">"Almost," George answered from where he was sitting ahead, driving the truck. Dream was sitting ahead with him in the passenger's seat, while Bad and Sapnap were at the back of the dump truck. His eyes scanned the neighbourhood, searching.</p><p class="p1">They had stolen the diamond, and now they were heading back home. It was late in the evening, the neon numbers 7:13 PM flashing on the dashboard of the truck from the digital clock installed in it. The sun had mostly set by now, leaving the sky in a darker hue of blues and purples. The buildings had gone smaller, from large, colossal skyscrapers of the main city to much smaller, older 2 storey buildings with graffiti on the walls.</p><p class="p1">Home was nowhere near the flashy suburbs. Instead, they chose to live in the darker corners of the street, in the middle of the maze of the ghettos. Not that they couldn't afford an apartment, just that they had to keep a low profile- you know, something they needed to do sort of being nation-wide criminals and all.</p><p class="p1">The streets had grown noticeably smaller, the atmosphere changing. Their olive-green garbage truck quietly crept along the streets, with no suspicions thrown on them- dump trucks came all the time. Dream kept his eyes sharp, on a lookout for a landmark the often had to look for. His eyes scanned the dingy streets, the red brick walls with black soot marks from fires burning and dull gray walls with spray paint, onto the stray dog who ran across the road ahead them, a meat loaf in his mouth, The yellow street-lamps threw dim light onto the roads, letting them navigate through.</p><p class="p1">Then his eyes caught what he was looking for: 5 bright yellow letters sprayed onto a slate colored wall on his right, not standing out that much in particular as compared to the bright neon graffiti surrounding it- <b>ZEPHYR</b>. The words didn't mean anything to them, but they were all he needed to see.</p><p class="p1">""We're there," he said, putting a hand on the steering wheel. "Pull over."</p><p class="p1">George looked up to see where Dream was looking, gave a nod of confirmation, and swerved to the side. The truck moved, pulling over silently and slowly breaking down. Their vehicle was stopped next to a charred building opposite to the landmark Dream had spotted, exactly parallel with it. </p><p class="p1">The place they had pulled over was a 2-minute walking distance from home. So why did they pull over there, you ask? Well, they weren't stupid- in case the police <em>did</em> follow them behind (which almost never happened; they were good at their job), they needed to throw them off their trail and keep them away. </p><p class="p1">George turned of the ignition switch and pulled the key out, while Dream turned around and opened the small slot door, peeking into the back.</p><p class="p1">"Rise and shine, my boys," he sang. "We're here."</p><p class="p1">"Coming mom," Sapnap said, slinging the black bag and pulling up his mask. Bad did the same, putting on his mask and tugging down his hoodie. Dream turned back to the front, where George was hanging his headphones around his neck, while balancing 2 laptops on his forearm simultaneously; there was a lot of equipment needed for the job.</p><p class="p1">"Need help?" Dream ask, already picking up one of the laptops from his friend's hand. George made a protesting voice, no doubt wanting to say that he could manage it by himself, but Dream stopped him with a look.</p><p class="p1">"I-" he started, then sighed. "Yeah, okay. Could you maybe get the door as well?"</p><p class="p1">"You just gotta ask, you know?" Dream said with a teasing smile and leaned across, pushing the door open, while George mumbled a small <em>'yeah, yeah.'</em></p><p class="p1">Dream got out from the other side, but not before pressing the button on the dashboard that allowed the back of the truck to open. He jumped out, laptop in hand, and jogged to the back to help the other two. Sapnap had already jumped out, and was helping Bad to climb over. Dream waited for them to finish, as George joined him.</p><p class="p1">They had all pulled their masks on, staying dark so that they could stay in the shadows. Dream had opted to not wear his porcelain white mask just in case it made him stand out. Once they were all ready, they gave each other a brief nod and then slipped into the side of the building they had stopped by, going into the narrow streets. All of them moved silently and swiftly, Sapnap in the lead, with George and Bad following him, and finally Dream at the back to watch their backs. They weaved in and out of the streets, darting into thin alleyways, slipping into the shadows and taking a swift complicated path as they navigated through the maze of buildings. All of them had their heads low, leaping and sprinting and jumping. This part required concentration, since they had to throw any possible hitch-hikers off their scent. </p><p class="p1">Finally, sitting amongst the cluster of other buildings and burrows, came in view a 1-storey house, next to a warehouse. They looked pretty normal- the house made of red brick, a few parts covered with soot and art, while the warehouse was a dull grey cement one. It looked like any common abandoned warehouse, with nothing in particular that made them stand out. A perfect place for 4 robbers to live in.</p><p class="p1">All of them made their way to the house. At reaching the door, Sapnap turned his back to Bad so that he could unzip the smallest compartment and pull out the house keys. He pulled out 2 silver keys hanging from a ring, and inserted one into the rusty gold lock that kept the door shut. Turning it to the side, there was a small <em>click</em> as the lock popped open. He pulled out the pad-lock, gave the door handle a turn, and pushed the door open. The door swung open, to reveal their plainly furnished drawing room, and the musty smell of <em>home</em> hitting their face.</p><p class="p1">"Honey, I'm home!" Sapnap sang as he danced inside, throwing himself onto the sofa. He ran his hands over its faded crimson polyester fabric.</p><p class="p1">"Oh, how I've missed you," he said, sighing dramatically. Dream huffed, shaking his head and walking in. <em>Drama queen.</em></p><p class="p1">Bad had tossed the keys lightly onto the coffee table, while George had rested the electronics on the table top with a slight <em>thud. </em>Dream had placed the laptop he was carrying as well.</p><p class="p1">"Ok you guys," George said, putting his hand forward. "Hand me over the earpieces so I can put them in the warehouse."</p><p class="p1">"Sure," Dream said. He felt over his ear and pulled out the black earbud that was nestled in his left ear. He dropped it into George's hand, while the others followed suit. George dropped them over the laptops, along with the headset he was wearing, and lifted them all together into his arms with a small grunt. He looked at them.</p><p class="p1">"We're home," George said, leaning his weight on one leg. "What do we do now?"</p><p class="p1">"Kiss this beauty," Sapnap breathed from the sofa. He had pulled out the diamond from the bag and was now hugging it to his chest, a content smile on his face. That had to be uncomfortable.</p><p class="p1">"Put it away, you little muffin-head, before you break it," Bad pointed out, as Sapnap blew a raspberry in response. Dream was looking up at the clock mounted on the wall. The arrow hands pointed at 7:16 PM.</p><p class="p1">"We've got time right now," he said. "The event starts at 9, so we need to leave by 8:30 at the max. We've got some time to kill, so I guess we can wind out for a bit, take a little break, hit the showers maybe."</p><p class="p1">Ahhh.</p><p class="p1">The <em>event.</em></p><p class="p1">Now, the Dream Team might be robbers, but who said they did it all the time? Robbery- sorry, correction: <em>sneaky philanthropist duties</em>-  were more of a day-time job. Night time was well...</p><p class="p1">It was the time for them to <em>race.</em></p><p class="p1">Yep, not only did they steal, but they raced too. Seemed like their lives was pretty much a chapter out of some blockbuster. At the night, all the racers from the ghettos and the suburbs met together at a racetrack that was about 30 minutes from where they lived. And these races? They were a really big deal.Die-hard fans came from all over the country- and maybe even the <em>world-</em> to come look at the races. There were the best racers you could imagine, literally everyone one could name. And naturally, the tracks were something they excelled in as well.</p><p class="p1">For this past week, the Racer's Championship had been going one- yes, there was a championship, to determine the best racers in the competition. The Racer's Championship, or the RCC, was one of the most hyped up car races in the country, which was held for one week. Each day of the week was a different competition, a different type of race, and there were loads of different types, so many that you couldn't include all of them in one championship. So each year, there was a different combination of races. There were quite a few popular ones that were included almost every year-</p><p class="p1">There was <em>Hole In The Wall</em>, which was exactly what it sounded like- wall obstacles blocking the roads with small openings in them, from which they all had to drive through. You crash into the wall, you lose.</p><p class="p1"><em>Battle Box.</em> Think of it as a much more dangerous version than the arcade's Bumper Car, because nobody was playing around here.</p><p class="p1"><em>Sands Of Time</em> was sort of like Treasure Hunt, one of the milder games, where teams had to drive through complicated roads and collect several trinkets and coins. The team with the most coins naturally won.</p><p class="p1"><em>Survival Games</em> were tricky. The name was pretty self-explanatory- they had to stay on the for a period of time while there were several sabotages that would try to out the racers.</p><p class="p1">But today was Friday night, and night more special than usual that week, because today was the day they had<em> Parkour Warriors</em>- Dream's favorite type of race.</p><p class="p1">Parkour Warriors had to be one of the most complicated and toughest races, if not the toughest. The race course for this was prepped in a rather special way- chocked with obstacles. And not the easy '<em>jumping-through-the-hoop'</em> type. Oh no <em>siree,</em> because where was the fun in that?<br/>
Parkour Warriors went all out with the obstacles- you had flying off ramps, riding off walls, going through rings of fire, driving on rickety bridges above water, dynamites on the track. Yeah, you heard that right, <em>dynamites.</em> Parkour was the time people chose to do dirty racing, slamming into each other and throwing cars off track. It was violent, aggressive, adrenaline-packed, crash-guaranteed.</p><p class="p1">And Dream <em>loved it.</em></p><p class="p1">He was one of the few racers who had mastered the skill of parkouring, and was the only one who had ever successfully completed the entire racecourse more than once. He could safely say that it was one game that he <em>dominated.</em></p><p class="p1">Also, Parkour Warriors was the 7th, final race. You win that, you win the RCC.</p><p class="p1">"Sure," Bad said, cutting through Dream's train of thought. "Showers sound pretty good to me."</p><p class="p1">"Dibs!" Sapnap chimed right after, quickly abandoning the diamond on the sofa and leaping onto his feet. "I get a bathroom!"</p><p class="p1">"Who wants to go next?" Bad asked. He looked at Dream. "Dream, you wanna go?" he asked kindly. "You must be really sweaty, after all that stealing."</p><p class="p1">"Yeah Dream," George said. "Besides, today's Parkour Day. It'd be better if you go while the showers are warm, so that you can relax later for a while. You've got a race track to rule, after all."</p><p class="p1">Dream smiled. It was true, he was tired from being out all afternoon. The best thing about his friends? He didn't even need to tell them something for them to know it.</p><p class="p1">He really loved those guys.</p><p class="p1">"Thanks guys," he said. "You guys care too much."</p><p class="p1">"What can we say," Sapnap said. "Family's family."</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Yep, he really did love them.</em>
</p><p class="p1">"I'll head to the warehouse, see you guys!" George called out, walking to the side of the room to the door that was adjoined to the warehouse. Bad settled onto the sofa, picking up the remote for the TV they had installed in the room from where it was squished between 2 sofa cushions, and Sapnap disappeared into one of the rooms. Dream headed to the other room in the house, rolling his shoulders back to hear a satisfying small crackling sound as the tension released.</p><p class="p1">Their house was pretty small, consisting of 2 bedrooms with a bathroom each, and a common living room. The furnishing was kept to the minimal- with a sofa and TV in the living room, along with a coffee table, a small rug, and refrigerator installed, and each of the bedrooms had twin beds and closets, with basic bathroom supplies. Since there were only 2 rooms, 2 people shared a room- him and George shared a room, while Sapnap and Bad slept in the other. They each had separate beds, so that was not a worry. It was not that they didn't have money, it was only that they had invested their money into something else.</p><p class="p1">Something else, known as the warehouse.</p><p class="p1">The warehouse was practically where they resided throughout the day, so that was a place better equipped. It had multiple tables, each usually holding multiple items. A few would have all of the laptops, monitors and desktops, with headsets and keyboards strewn across the surface. All of their tech were reasonably priced and not cheap things they had picked off thrift stores and dumpster dives. Others would carry mechanical supplies and hardware, such as simple nuts and bolts, screwdrivers, tape measurers, pliers, and wretches to repair their gear and cars.</p><p class="p1">Ooh yes, the cars. The beautiful, gorgeous, shiny cars. Those were the things they had invested their money on most, and Dream was definitely gonna go drool over them afterwards. Right now, shower.</p><p class="p1">Dream had locked his room, and gotten inside the bathroom. Carefully locking the door behind him, he directly turned the knob of the shower, and hot water shot out. Fog started to fill up the room, clouding the mirror mounted on the wall, as he stripped out of his clothes. He pulled off his black face mask, yanked off his gloves and socks, then proceeded to remove the black pants and body suit. The synthetic fabric stuck to his sweaty skin as he peeled them off his body, and threw them onto the ground. Finally, stepping over the puddle of clothes lying under his feet, he stepped into the shower.</p><p class="p1">Hot, steamy water poured onto him, and Dream almost melted underneath it. The warmth of the water seeped into the pores his body, under his muscles, slowly feeling the tension lift and ebb out of his body. He let out a loud sigh and closed his eyes, letting himself loosen underneath the shower. His slightly long hair came forward, the tips getting into his eyes. He rans his hands through the blond strands, pushing them backwards.</p><p class="p1">Right now, he didn't let himself think, just let himself <em>relax.</em></p><p class="p1">Dream reached out, waving his hand in the air until they came in contact with the bottle of shampoo. He wrapped his fingers around it, pulled it towards him, popped the cap open and squeezed the cold substance into his hand. Then, lifting them, he ran them through his hair again, slowly rubbing. He massaged his scalp, feeling the lather build up, and then squeezing his eyes tightly shut as the soap suds moved down his face to avoid it from getting in. The shower felt fucking <em>heavenly.</em></p><p class="p1">He ducked his head back under the shower, massaging away the foam as the water washed them away. He looked down at his feet, watching the foamy water circling his legs and flushing into the drain. Then, he felt a sharp sting in his leg.</p><p class="p1">Dream gave a hiss, glancing around at the source of the pain, then saw the slightly scraped skin on his right knee. He frowned- <em>how'd that happen?</em></p><p class="p1"><em>Must've happened when he was pulling himself up the vents, maybe his knee must have scraped the metal edge?</em> Sometimes he'd get small cuts and scratches like that, and he doesn't notice.</p><p class="p1">He cupped his hand over his knee, shielding it from spraying water or the shampoo touching it. With the other hand, he quickly scrubbed his hair, washing away any remains of the lather, then rinsing his body throughly. Finally, with his eyes closed, he turned his face up to the shower. The spray of water bounced of his face, the pressure of the water almost massaging. Then, he reached out and shut the shower.</p><p class="p1">Yanking a towel hanging off a metal bar attached to the wall, he wrapped it around his waist and stepped out of the shower. A cool gust of wind enveloped him, sending goose bumps all over his body. He gave a small shudder, and walked to the basin. He looked into the fogged mirror, only able to see a blurry outline of his figure. Lifting his hand up, he extended his finger and drew over the glass, pressing at one point, then another, and ending with a curve underneath the 2 dots, the glass making a squeaking sound. A smiley face looked back at him.</p><p class="p1">"Yay," he whispered to himself. It felt like a childish thing to do, but with his hectic life, sometimes he felt like he just needed a bit of childish.</p><p class="p1">He lifted his towel to look at his knee and assess the cut. The scrape wasn't much, really, just a few shallow cuts and some irritated rubbed skin. <em>Nothing a few band aids won't fix.</em></p><p class="p1">Turning to the side, he opened a cabinet mounted on the wall, and pulled out a box of band aids sitting on the bottom shelf, and shook out 3 strips. That should do. Supply in hand, he walked out of the bathroom. The room was chilly compared to the steamy sauna of a bathroom he stepped out of, so he quickly jogged over to his closet to pull out his clothes. Throwing the cupboard doors open, and spent barely any time looking for what he was going to wear as he pulled a hanger out, which had all of clothes hanging from it.</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1"> <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ad/cd/94/adcd949016be4a68cb42eebe421e370f.jpg"> <b>Clothes for the racetrack</b> </a> </span> <span class="s2">, of course.</span></p><p class="p1">Shedding his towel, he quickly pulled them on. First came his underwear, then he pulled on tight bottle-green track pants, the color dark enough to look black, with white striped running down the side. Then, he pulled on a fitted green full-sleeves tee, and finally a sleeveless bottle-green jacket that matched his pants. The high collar zipped up till his throat. He pulled on some socks and fingerless gloves to finish it off with. Perfect.</p><p class="p1">He picked up his towel and went back in the bathroom, collected his clothed from the floor and dumped them into the laundry basket. Then, spinning on his heel, he walked out of the bathroom and made his way out of the room</p><p class="p1">In the living room, Sapnap was already sprawled out on the sofa, a packet of chips ripped open and sitting his lap from where he'd fish out a chip while watching TV. He was sitting alone, so Dream assumed Bad had gone to shower. At hearing Dream walk into the room, Sapnap whirled around and grinned, setting the chips aside and standing up.</p><p class="p1">"So," he said, spreading his hands. "How do I look?"</p><p class="p1">Sapnap's <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/39/31/3f3931e6b613cef1fb5f74e4553d5ac2.jpg"><span class="s3"><b>outfit</b></span></a> was pretty similar to what he was wearing earlier, minus the mask and all. He wore a black full-sleeved turtleneck, over which he threw a white t-shirt with the fire in the center, under which he had put on black track pants with white lines running down the sides. Thick black-and white leather gloves were on his hands. He was already wearing his shoes, which had a black-and-white check pattern over them with white soles. His classic bandana was roped over his forehead.</p><p class="p1">"Hot," Dream said, grinning, to which Sapnap winked.</p><p class="p1">"Ahh," he said. "Now that's what I like to hear! You're not too bad yourself, Dre."</p><p class="p1">"Graçias," Dream replied, to which Sapnap snorted. "What?" </p><p class="p1">"Your Spanish sounds like shit. With an American accent, it sounds more like <em>'grassy ass'</em>, bruh." Sapnap said, snickering.</p><p class="p1">Dream laughed.<em> "Grassy ass?"</em></p><p class="p1">"Grassy ass."</p><p class="p1">"Now that's an ass I wanna see."</p><p class="p1">Both of them gave an immature snigger, and Dream shook his head lightly. </p><p class="p1">"Wow, we're actually kids, aren't we?" he said.</p><p class="p1">"Hottest kids on the block," Sapnap said, winking, and they laughed again.</p><p class="p1">"Okay," Dream said, walking next to the TV where the shoe rack was. He opened the door and grabbed his shoes of the rack- black mid-tops. "Getting serious now. Bad's in the shower, and we gotta leave in a while. Where's Georgie?"</p><p class="p1">"Still in the warehouse, waiting for you to come out so he can shower," Sapnap said, as Dream shoved his feet into his sneakers. "Should we tell him you're out?"</p><p class="p1">"Yep," Dream said. He finished lacing up, and they walked across the room to the door that was adjoining to said warehouse.</p><p class="p1">Sapnap pushes the red door open, and they step inside the vast expanse of the warehouse. The area was <em>massive</em>, like a football stadium had been cemented and roofed. There were silver tables in the center, brimming with equipments. Several laptops were up and running, their screens glowing; he could hear the cooling fans of all the laptops collectively hum. Tool box equipments were sitting in plastic bins, neatly sorted out with each bin labelled- Bad's handiwork, naturally. There were AC's mounted on the walls, blasting cool air. A large, banner-sized map of New York was glued to the wall, several locations marked by pins, red strings of wool attaching a few together to form a cobweb. Places they had visited were marked with tiny green flags with a white smiley face on it, and places they were yet to visit were flagged with red pieces of paper. George was currently standing on his toes, plucking out a red flag and replacing it with a green one, marking the jewellers they had just robbed.</p><p class="p1">"Oh <em>Geooooorge</em>," Dream sang, and the brunette whipped around. His goggles were pushed up his head, and black sleeves up his elbows. Looking at them, he gave a loud sigh of relief.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Finally!"</em> he cried out. "I thought you were gonna stay in there forever! Now move so that I can shower in peace!" With that, he dropped the tiny red flag on the ground and sprinted, his body a blue blur as he ran past and through the red door. Dream blinked.</p><p class="p1">"Well, hello to you too," Sapnap muttered, trudging forward, hands in his pockets.</p><p class="p1">"Who needs George?" Dream huffed. "I'm here to see the cars anyways."</p><p class="p1">"Exactly!"</p><p class="p1">Dream was joking around, but now that he said it, he <em>really</em> wanted to see the cars. The cars was something for which they had spent a lot of time, lot of effort, and lot of money. For 2 and a half painstaking years, they had done their jobs- robbing as many places as they could, keeping some of the money while donating the rest to charity, then winning as many RCC competitions as they could and getting the price money. They collected each dollar and saved it up, keeping their spendings to a minimum, trying to only the bare necessities they need. For 1,005 days, they saved up their money. Then finally, <em>finally</em> they had gotten enough money to get their first ever race cars. They weren't exactly Formula 1's, but they did their job. Over the years, the cars had gotten better, with newer technical upgrades, installing the latest engine models, replacing tyres with ones with better gripping, changing the car body to much more streamlined forms, and personalising the vehicles. Since the RCC's offered to give the regular upgrades to their top performers, the Dream Team's cars stayed at top notch models.</p><p class="p1">Dream and Sapnap had navigated through the tables, overstepping on a few soda cans and stray basketballs strewn on the floor, when the finally reached the front of the warehouse, where 4 large masses were covered with large black sheets. Sapnap and Dream grinned at each other, both of them grabbing ahold of 2 sheets each, and yanking them off. The sheets flew in the air, slowly floating down onto the ground like autumn leaves, as both of them made heart-eyes at the cars. </p><p class="p1">On the immediate left stood <strong><a href="https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/lamborghini-sc18-alston-1542395842.jpg">Bad's car</a></strong>. It was sleek black Lamborghini with a gorgeous matte finish. It had minimalistic red highlights on the hood, around the tire rims and fog lamps, and on the tail.- the hot rot red was a stunning contrast to the charcoal black. The headlights were triangular in shape, giving it a complete bad-ass look. On the side of the car, on one of the doors, was Bad's logo- a black face with red devil horns and a yellow hallow between the horns.</p><p class="p1">Next to it was Dream's own <strong><a href="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/812a847c-c4e1-4bed-b790-6c8b308a6a06/d8v6twv-4496cf91-f67a-4b41-8911-ef8b6317508c.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzgxMmE4NDdjLWM0ZTEtNGJlZC1iNzkwLTZjOGIzMDhhNmEwNlwvZDh2NnR3di00NDk2Y2Y5MS1mNjdhLTRiNDEtODkxMS1lZjhiNjMxNzUwOGMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.rFEzg_K1KIPp3JiQw6Cu3bUanNQllLPUCEEEZwxYQqY">car</a></strong>. His Lykan Hypersport rocked his classic lime-green look, with a black interior, a really cool contrast. Stream-lined and slim, it had black finished in the various grooved of the car. The tail of the car was black, matching the bumper and tires, which had a hint of red in them. His signature white faced-black smiley was plastered across one of the doors, looking both innocent and sinister. His headlights were in triangles, matching Bad's, and the doors of his car opened upwards, giving it a daunting overall look. It was one of the best cars in the <em>world</em>.</p><p class="p1">Sapnap's <strong><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/10/10/c7/1010c75dc2f74ef3a289f4df62e8f81b.png">car</a></strong> stood third. His was a bright white Ferrari, with a slightly different look than the others, appearing more dynamic than sleek. It has several black markings across its white body, a black sunroof, and each of its doors had a black-and-white checkered pattern. On its hood was his flame emblem, swirling with orange, yellow and red. The headlights were different as well, designed as sleek vertical rectangles.</p><p class="p1">Last but not the least was George's <strong><a href="https://images.cdn.circlesix.co/image/2/1200/700/5/uploads/posts/2020/03/44acd2c3a65ce1497ee7d8e37814dcaa.jpg">ride</a></strong>. The car was a blue Bugatti Chiron, with a long horizontal red tail light, and matching red interior. There was a single black stripe running across the hood all the way to the roof, which was black and entirely retractable. The tires were black with black spokes that had hints of red on it. His car didn't have any special marking, but it had his name GeorgeNotFound spelt across the tail in white. The headlights were leaf-shaped, and slightly tilted sideways.</p><p class="p1">4 sweet, magnificent, bad-ass babies, that suited each of their personalities equally. They each costed a literal fortune, but they were worth every penny of its cost. Dream had ridden his car multiple times for several years, but still hadn't gotten over how awesome it was. He remembered exactly how it had been when he had first seen his car...</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"You see these?" George said, bouncing up and down excitedly, while Bad was making little happy noises and Sapnap was literally hugging his car. Dream had been standing completely still as though he had been planted there, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Seeing," he had said, his voice filled with disbelief. "Still working on believing."</em>
</p><p class="p1">It had been 6 years, and that was pretty much how he still felt.</p><p class="p1">Dream didn't know for how long he and Sapnap had been standing there, until he felt a tap on his shoulder.</p><p class="p1">"Hello?" a voice said, now knocking on his skull. "Anybody home?"</p><p class="p1">Dream blinked, snapping out of his thoughts and turning around to see George frowning at him. "You there?"</p><p class="p1">"Yeah sorry, just... zoned out for a bit." Dream said, scratching the nape of his neck. George shook his head, then gave a spin. "I'm dressed up!"</p><p class="p1">He was wearing his custom t-shirt, powder blue with his name spelt across his chest across the red rectangle, with fitted dark pants underneath and white high-tops with matching laces. Over his t-shirt, he had put on a brown aviator leather jacket zipped up half ways, and wore black gloves with red and blue stripes on his hands. He still had his white plastic goggles stuck in his now-wet hair. He had slipped on black gloves with red and blue stripes.</p><p class="p1">"You won't be needing that dummy," Dream said, pulling the goggles out of his hair. "You're gonna be wearing a helmet, remember?"</p><p class="p1">"Oh, right."</p><p class="p1">Dream snorted lightly. "Idiot."</p><p class="p1">"Are you all ready? Should we leave?" A new voice asked. Dream saw Bad walk in the warehouse, his head turning side to side, looking around to find them. Bad's <strong><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5e/5a/b0/5e5ab01b97eb108b6c839855d4ad984a.jpg">costume</a></strong> was pretty cool- a black t-shirt with a zip that started from mid chest and went up to the collar, zipping up till his throat. Underneath it he wore high-waisted black pants with a red belt that criss-crossed across his waist. His pants were slightly saggy, which was smart since it gave more leg room. Over his t-shirt he had a black jacket with red designing over it, which matched his socks. He wore thick black racing gloves with white stripes outlining it, and cool white sneakers with red-and-black laces.</p><p class="p1">"You're looking pretty pog, Bad!" Dream said, grinning. Bad smiled back!</p><p class="p1">"Why thank you, Dream! You look really nice too!"</p><p class="p1">"That's true," Sapnap sang. "But we all know who the hottest is." He aimed his index fingers at himself, giving exaggerated winks, earning scoffs and <em>'hell no'</em> and <em>'no way' </em>and <em>'you wish'</em>. Sapnap snickered away.</p><p class="p1">Then Dream's eye caught one of the monitors flashing in the room, and he looked at the time at the top right corner- <em>8:27PM.</em></p><p class="p1">"Guys," he said. "Think we should leave now."</p><p class="p1">"Is it time already?" George asked, surprised.</p><p class="p1">"Yeah," Dream replied. RCC was something they were never late to, so they always took off on time.</p><p class="p1">"Alright then," George said, walking over to his car. "Time to roll."</p><p class="p1">The four of them got to their cars, the keys sitting on the hoods. Dream pressed a button on his car which caused the doors to open vertically, to which George muttered 'show off', as he got inside, the doors shutting behind him. He slipped into the car, moved the key, and turned the ignition on, and his car woke up with a hum. Then, all the others slowly turned their cars on, and the hum turned into a deep rumble, the sound like a deep bass that send waves of excitement flooding through his body. On the passenger seat on his left was his helmet- matte black with thin green streaks. He slipped it over his head, and his emerald eyes flashed through the slit. Besides him, he saw that all of them had put their helmets on, eyes shining through them. They all stayed still for a moment, adrenaline pumping through their bodies, as their cars revved.</p><p class="p1">"You know what this reminds me of?" Sapnap's voice came from over the hum of the cars. "That really pog scene from Fast and Furious, when they're all lined up together."</p><p class="p1">They laughed, as the anticipation coursed through his body.</p><p class="p1">"Who's got the remote to open the warehouse doors?" Dream asked.</p><p class="p1">"Got it on the way," Bad called out. Dream smiled behind his helmet.</p><p class="p1">"Alright," he said, pushing down his tinted face shield. <em>"Time to roll."</em></p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <strong>---</strong>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">The racing course was, without the slightest bit of exaggeration, <em>ginormous</em> (no, Dream wasn't using big words to impress anyone, it really was!)</p><p class="p1">An entire chunk of land had been bought off by the makers of the RCC, and said chunk of land could easily be compared to the size of Vatican City! The entrance were two, huge 20-foot electric gates that were painted hot-rod-red and opened outwards, and above the gates in big, bold letters, said <strong>RACERS CHAMPIONSHIP.</strong> The gates were heavily guarded- even more than the building they had robbed earlier that day. Guards and cameramen bustled at the front, cameras flashing and clicking pictures of their cars, while security kept them at bay. One might wonder that<em> 'why didn't the cops who were trying to arrest the Dream Team simply pay the RCC a visit and march them to jail?'</em>  Well, the RCC had pretty strict rules. All media men and security stayed outside the gates, and no police personnels were allowed within 60 meters of the area. Police were always trying to find an opportunity to put the racers behind bars- disclaimer, the Dream Team weren't the only naughty guys who came to race; there were loads of infamous people in the racers lot. the Dream Team were the most wanted, however. The outside of the RCC wasn't a really pretty site due to the barricading and all, but once you got inside, you were good to go.</p><p class="p1">And inside was... well... pretty much the equivalent of Disney Land for racers.</p><p class="p1">The Dream Team entered the arena, their cars revving in. The fans, who were barricaded to the sides with the help of rails, screamed with excitement at seeing their cars roll by. There had to be hundreds of fans, all of the hoisting up posters that read various names and messages, all of the people yelling and shouting and shrieking. Dream rolled down his window and stuck his head out, grinning so hard behind his helmet he feared his face might split into two. Ahead him from the black Lambo, Bad was waving his hands at the crowd excitedly. From the rear window, he could see Sapnap blowing kisses at the fans, and George yelling back responses to the people who were shouting them love.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Let's go, Dream!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Go Sapnap!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Dominate the roads, green boy!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"I love you Gogy!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"BadBoyHalo is a potato!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Dream snorted at the last one and craned his neck to see where that came from, and he saw ahead was another <strong><a href="https://images.hgmsites.net/hug/lamborghini-sian-roadster_100751218_h.jpg">car</a></strong> of a fellow racer- a turquoise Lamborghini with awesome arrow-shaped headlights. Leaning against the side of the door was a figure dressed in black t-shirt and jeans, with a blue leather jacket zipped halfway up that matched the car, along with black sneakers that had cyan laces and soles. His black helmet was off and tucked under one arm, while he waved at them with the other, grinning as black hair flopped in his eyes.</p><p class="p1">"Skeppy!" Dream heard Bad shout happily, and raced over with his car. Skeppy was one of Bad's best friends other than the Dream Team, and the others knew him too. He was a pretty cool guy.</p><p class="p1">The other followed suit, going in a line. Right now, as the event hadn't started yet, the racers would lounge in an enormous cement rink, showing off their cars, interacting with fans and meeting up with their friends. There were several other dozens of cars in the rink, through which they navigated and reached Skeppy. Dream stopped his car and opened the doors, which smoothly went up. Skeppy gave an appreciative wolf-whistle.</p><p class="p1">"That car, though!" Skeppy said, reaching forward and slapping hands with Dream. He did the same with others, exchanging smiles, and finally pulled Bad into a hug, who wrapped his hands around him in return.</p><p class="p1">"Sweet, right?" Dream said, eating up the compliment. Hey, he was allowed to boast around a bit, okay?</p><p class="p1">Skeppy laughed. "Dope as hell. All of your cars."</p><p class="p1">"You got a different car this year!" Sapnap exclaimed, stepping out of his and rushing over to Skeppy's examining it.</p><p class="p1">"Yep," Skeppy said. "Traded my Ferrari for this beauty. A Lamborghini Sian Roadster, 807 horse-power. Beautiful."</p><p class="p1">Sapnap snorted. "Rich boy Ahmed," he said with a huff, going forward and scuffing his head. Skeppy gave him a playful punch in return.</p><p class="p1">Skeppy's real name was Zak Ahmed, with Skeppy as his racer name, just like BadBotHalo was Darryl Noveschosch, Sapnap was Nicholas 'Nick' Armstrong, and GeorgeNotFound was George Davidson. Dream's real name was Clay Jackson, but he wasn't often called that; the Dream Team rarely used their actual names in public- the lesser the cops knew about them, the better. They also never showed their faces in public for the same reason, and their mysterious background was what made them so popular.</p><p class="p1">Dream looked around, searching for more familiar faces amongst the many racers in the rink. There was a guy named Ranboo, standing against a black-and-white <strong><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7b/6a/65/7b6a656da3e014e3f81ec2fe7f52f49a.jpg">Ferrari</a>. </strong>His helmet was split into to colors from the center,- black and white- and so was his racing suit. He was talking to other 2 racers named TommyInnit and Tubbo. Tommy and Tubbo were the younger races, only 18 years old, along with Purpled, and Sapnap, who was 19 (the mostly standard ages of the racers was 21, like Dream himself was). Tommy was sitting on the hood of his <strong><a href="https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/762/901/108/lamborghini-white-cars-car-vehicle-wallpaper-preview.jpg">white Lambo</a></strong> that had a red stripe running over it, while Tubbo talked from inside his yellow<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/685JkSZX5Po/maxresdefault.jpg"><b> Porsche</b></a>. Two other racers stood near them, having a conversation, known as Fundy and Eret. Fundy's <strong><a href="https://www.drifted.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cars-of-tokyo-drift-thumbnail.jpg">ride</a></strong> was an orange-and-black Mazda, while Eret sat atop a sterling silver <strong><a>McLaren Speedtail</a></strong>. Each of them had their specific logos drawn on their car- an orange <a href="https://image.freepik.com/free-vector/awesome-fox-logo-design-ready-use_111165-20.jpg">fox</a> on the Mazda and a gleaming gold crown on the hood of the Speedtail. Standing next to them was Quackity, chilling next to his blue and white <strong><a href="https://www.automoblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/01-2013-srt-viper-gts-launch-edition.jpg">Viper</a></strong>. The logo on the side of his door was a yellow duck wearing a red... wait, was that a... <em>bikini?</em> <em>Um.</em> Dream didn't question that- he had stopped questioning the guy a long time ago.</p><p class="p1">There were many others too, such as FruitBerries, HBomb, Captain Puffy, Punz, Illumina, Tapl- the list went on and on. But Dream was searching for someone in particular. His eyes scanned the arena, pausing over each face for a brief second before moving on, until he finally found who he was looking for.</p><p class="p1">At the far end of the rink were 2 racers, talking to each other. The one standing on the left was Ph1lza- or simply Philza,- leaned against a matte olive-green <strong><a href="https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/g6AMw/s1/lamborghini-huracan-performante-by-r1-motorsport.jpg">Lambo</a></strong> with light brown and white markings along the side of the car body. His outfit was not unlike that of a Japanese <strong><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/28/80/eb/2880ebb7428c4a722800aa2552ebc59e.jpg">kimono</a></strong>, though more modern. But that was not who he was looking at, no. His eyes were focused on the person standing next to him. The man had bubblegum pink hair- something that only he was able to pull off as intimidating. His car was a sleek hot-pink <strong><a href="https://cdn.carbuzz.com/gallery-images/1600/540000/400/540480.jpg">McLaren</a></strong> with black markings at the headlights and bumper. The wheels were black, as well as the spokes, and had a thin pink ring around them. His headlights were triangular, looking like focused eyes. Light gleamed off it, making it look deadly. At the hood was his famous logo- a pig face wearing a gleaming golden crown that was slightly tilted. He was wearing a black full-sleeved jacket that zipped up till under his chin, and fitted black track pants and sneakers, which had hot-pink stripes on the side. His helmet was the same color of his car, with black jagged markings on the side, with his tinted windshield pushed up to reveal ruby red eyes.</p><p class="p1">That person was Technoblade, one of the greatest racers ever, and Dream's number one competitor. They didn't hate each other like rivals often did- they actually got along well in fact; they'd once been teamed together for an RCC- the RCC 8- and had pretty much stormed the roads. Whenever they were against each other, however, things would get... pretty heated up. On the bright side, the TV ratings would sky rocket, so that was one good thing. </p><p class="p1">Techno looked around for a bit as Philza spoke to him. Then his eyes met Dream's, red staring into green. It was like that moment when 2 alpha lions crossed path- both of them looking with kingly intensity, neither willing to back down. Then, Techno gave a small, firm nod. Dream returned it. Both of them looked away- Techno turning back to reply to Philza, and Dream looking back at his friends. It was an intense moment, even though it was just a second.</p><p class="p1">"So, you and Bacon Boy done smouldering at each other?" Sapnap cut in, no doubt smirking behind his helmet. Dream rolled his eyes.</p><p class="p1">"Not <em>smouldering</em>, Sapling, <em>acknowledging,"</em> Dream corrected. Sapnap shrugged.</p><p class="p1">"Eh, tomato, tomahto."</p><p class="p1">"They're not the same thing!"</p><p class="p1">"Y'know, you and Techno are much more cooler with each other than rivals usually are," Skeppy commented. He was now seated on the hood of his car, swinging his legs.</p><p class="p1">"We are," Dream answered. "People usually assume that being rivals, we should be at each other's throats. But I'm fine with him, we're friendly," Dream adjusted the wind shields on his helmet. "Not <em>too</em> friendly, though. No mercy on anybody for this RCC- no offence, Skeppy."</p><p class="p1">"None taken," Skeppy replied coolly. "Our team's gonna wipe your asses anyways." Dream snorted.</p><p class="p1">"Oh,<em> you wish."</em></p><p class="p1">In each RCC, there were teams of 4, and this RCC, the Dream Team were lucky enough to land in the same team. There were 10 teams in total- the <em>Red Ravens, Orange Oozes, Mustard Mummies, Lime Liches, Green Goblins, Aqua Abominations, Cyan Centipedes, Blue Black Cats, Violet Vampires,</em> and last but not the least, <em>Fuchsia Frankensteins,</em> which was their team. Each team had 4 racers each, so that was 40 racers in all.</p><p class="p1">40 racers, and he had to win Parkour Warriors. <em>No pressure!</em></p><p class="p1">Then the announcement blared across the entire race course through the speakers.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Hello, racers!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Dream straightened up, and so did the others. The chatter in the rink and noise amongst the fans quietened down- <em>it was starting.</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Welcome to Day 7 of the Racers Championship!"</em> A loud cheer filled the rink, and the racers whooped along.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Today, as we know, is the day for the infamous Parkour Warriors!"</em> The air in the rink suddenly grew charged.</p><p class="p1"><em>"</em><em>Today we don't just test how fast you can role those wheels or your viciousness on the road- today we test your speed, aggressiveness, agility, and talent! All by presenting you with some of the world's most challenging obstacles a racer can ever face! And we make it more challenging every time- if the last RCC you had to fly over 1 ramp, well, today you fly off 5! If you thought only rollercoasters went loop-de-loops, you're mistaken. You think you've prepared?" </em>There was a challenging pause that no one dared to break. <em>"Well, you've never prepared for anything like this!"</em></p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Today's race also determines the winner- the final winners. It determines the team who will win the Racing Championship. If you win this Parkour, you take home the trophy."</em>
</p><p class="p1">The trophy. The Trophy of RCC 11. Oh, how he wanted that trophy.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"So show us all you've got! Impress us! And let's see who will win! Will the last RCC's champion remain unbeaten? Or will there be a new star? Only time will tell!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Dream could see many heads turn towards him- he was RCC 10's Parkour Champion, after all.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"On that note, let's get on the tracks!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Yells and cheers filled the air once more, as all the racers started to get into their cars. Dream looked at his team and Skeppy.</p><p class="p1">"Good luck," he said, crossing his fingers. The others followed suit. Skeppy gave them a supportive thumbs-up, which they returned. Then, they all turned towards their cars, getting ready to leave.</p><p class="p1">Dream fished out his car keys out and opened the doors, settling behind the steering wheel. He closed the car, strapped across his seatbelt, inserted the key and turned on the ignition. He gripped the steering, giving it a tight squeeze, before stepping on the engine.</p><p class="p1">The car gave a low rumble, as he slowly started to move forward, following the cars out of the rink. At the exit, 2 staff personnels were putting on colored fluorescent pieces of tape under the windshields of each car, marking which team each racer was from. He saw different colors paste on each car- red tape over Philza's (Red Ravens), cyan over Techno's (Cyan Centipedes), violet tape over Quackity's (Violet Vampires), and so on. When he reached the exit, he rolled down his window and showed his ID to the staff- <em>of course they had ID's, they weren't heathens.</em> Each ID had their real name, racer's alias, team name and a special QR code at the bottom. His read <em>Clay Jackson, Dream, Fuchsia Frankensteins,</em> followed by the code. One of the personnel took his card and scanned it, giving a satisfied nod and then speaking to his buddy, who retrieved a fuchsia colored tape from a black box and leaned forward to tape it over his car. The first guy returned him his ID and grinned.</p><p class="p1">"Try going easy on the others, eh?" he said, his voice heavy with a Brooklyn accent. "We all know how good you are." Dream returned his amiable smile.</p><p class="p1">"No promises!" he joked, and the guy gave a hearty chuckle, tapping on his car to signal that he was good to go. </p><p class="p1">Dream's smile remained, but his face grew more professional- time to get serious now. He flexed his fingers over the steering and moved forward, going out of the exit.</p><p class="p1">Bright stadium lights hit him as soon as he rolled into the racing tracks, the cheers were now much more louder and deafening. Peering over the cars in front of him, he could see the wave of fans seated at the audience seats. There had to be thousands of people, looking down at them from all over the race course. He could feel his heart rate speed up a bit- <em>wow, that was a lot of people.</em></p><p class="p1"><em>You'll do great,</em> he assured himself firmly. <em>Just focus on the roads.</em></p><p class="p1">He rolled over to the front row, where his position was. There were 8 rows, each with 5 cars. Dream positioned himself 3rd in his row, where he was told to be, right smack center. In his row, starting from the left, was Eret. He couldn't see his face, only his golden helmet with the black sketch of a crown on the side. Then parked next to him was Sapnap. The side of his black helmet had orange and yellow swirling flame designs. He rolled down his window and stuck out his arm, palm facing Dream. Dream rolled down his and gave him a high five. From his left, he heard a voice.</p><p class="p1">"Good luck, babe!"</p><p class="p1">Dream looked to see Fundy grinning at him, his helmet lifted. Dream winked back; him and Fundy had a little joke going on between them, where they were fake husband and wife. There had been a wedding and everything- that really was a fun day.</p><p class="p1">"Same to you, sweetie!" Dream replied, and Fundy blew him a kiss, slipping his helmet back down. Finally, on the right was George. Both of them gave each other a wave. Through his side window he could see Bad's car right behind him in the second row, standing next to Skeppy's car. Purpled and Wilbur's cars stood on the left, and then there was Captain Sparkles on the right. Dream's heart elated slightly at seeing that car- Captain Sparkles was a legend, and Dream was his biggest fan. He hoped that the Captain would secure a position in the top 10. There were many more cars behind, but Dream didn't have time to focus at them at the moment- right now he needed to look ahead.</p><p class="p1">He faced forward once more, adjusting the side mirrors and rolling up his windows. All 40 cars stood gleaming under the lights, as the crowd roared.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Before we start,"</em> the announcer commented. <em>"Let's get a few beats pumping, yeah?"</em> Then, from the speakers, music started to sound. The RCC had these famous Discs, each Disc having a special music track. Right now, the speakers were boosting the <em>Pigstep Remix</em>- one of Dream's personal favorites. Dream gave a small whoop, bopping his head slightly to the beat as he focused ahead.</p><p class="p1">Above them, on a massive black board, large white numbers blinked down at them, a beep accompanying each number.</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>10.</strong>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>The countdown had started.</em>
</p><p class="p1"><strong>9.</strong> Dream shuffled in his seat.</p><p class="p1"><strong>8.</strong> All the racers held their focus.</p><p class="p1"><strong>7.</strong> The audience's noise washed over them like white noise.</p><p class="p1"><strong>6.</strong> He clutched the steering wheel tighter.</p><p class="p1"><strong>5.</strong> Bent his head side to side, releasing cracks of tension.</p><p class="p1"><strong>4.</strong> Positioned his foot over the gas.</p><p class="p1"><strong>3.</strong> This felt like the robbery all over again.</p><p class="p1"><strong>2.</strong> Countdown and everything-</p><p class="p1"><strong>1.</strong> <em>Here we go.</em></p><p class="p1">
  <strong> <em>"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"</em> </strong>
</p><p class="p1">Dream stomped down the accelerator, the engine roaring as he propelled forward- <em>it was on.</em> His car shot out ahead considerably, leaving several other cars behind to bite the dust; he smirked- <em>Lykan Hypersport, baby!</em> He was currently in the leading row, along with quite a few cars such as George's, Sapnap's, and Techno's surprisingly, who seemed to have sped forward out of nowhere. Dream pushed down the slight concern that was starting to form- <em>Techno was not gonna go easy. And neither was he.</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"And our racers are off with a beautiful start!"</em> Commentary blared from the speakers. <em>"Several racers are off to securing a solid lead, good for them."</em></p><p class="p1">The first 50 meters of the road was obstacle-free, just a part for them to get their cars rolling. This was the best part of the race to get a lead, so Dream put all he had into the pedal, zooming ahead. He could hear engines of multiple cars revving, the zooming sounds filling the air.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"But now they're going to have to brace themselves, as things are about to get... bumpy!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">He set his eyes ahead as he saw the hints of the first obstacle come into view.</p><p class="p1">Speedbumps.</p><p class="p1">Now, speedbumps wouldn't seem like much, but when you're going 200 miles per hour, a speedbump is enough to make your entire body jolt till the bone. 25 speedbumps <em>really</em> didn't make anything better. Also, this was tricky, since you had to see exactly when to slow down. Slow down too close to the speedbumps, and you're gone flying. Slowing down too far away, and you lose your position in the race. Lucky for Dream, he knew how to solve that problem. 20 miles away from the bumps, Dream started to slowly decelerate, taking his speed down from a 190 mph to a 160, securing a controlled pace. Then, as he neared, he braces himself.</p><p class="p1">The front tires of his car hit the first speedbump, and he could feel his car bounce. He squeezed the steering wheel and speed ahead. It the tires hit 1, 2, 3 speedbumps, before the back tires hit its first bump. His car vibrated, making his entire body jolt and jostle- he clenched his jaw so that he didn't accidentally bite down on his tongue. For 10 seconds, all he could feel was his car going <em>bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam</em> like a rapid-firing machine gun, the world turn into a blurry zig-zag, and his skull attempting to jump off its socket. But he stayed put, keeping the car steered straight ahead and making sure that it didn't go haywire. </p><p class="p1"><em>"Oh, that sure does </em>not<em> look comfortable!"</em> The commentator speculated in an amused tone. Dream grunted.</p><p class="p1">"No shit, Sherlock," he muttered, concentrating on the roads.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Come on come on come on-</em>
</p><p class="p1">The front tire hit flat road, quickly followed by the back tires, and Dream let out a victory screech. Thank fuck that was over!</p><p class="p1"><em>"And as we can see, several of our racers have successfully completed their first obstacle,"</em> the commentator was saying. <em>"But things aren't going to get easier from here! Next is what we call an Icy Porcupine!"</em></p><p class="p1">There were cars around him, but he didn't have time to focus as the next obstacle came almost as soon as the first one was over. Ahead him were about a dozen nail traps laid out, each trap having about 200 nails in them. The nail traps were 1 x 1 meter pieces of square wooden planks with several thick nails embedded in them, which was then slotted on the roads. Dream immediately swerved right to avoid one, then left. They were each laid out at a distance of 5 meters, so if you lost concentration, you were pretty much guaranteed a punctured car. And if your car stops, you're disqualified.</p><p class="p1">What made this obstacle worse was that as soon as this would get over, literally a meter away you had ice laid out. Dry ice that covered 15 meters of road. Not only did you have to dodge nail traps, but then you had to drive over slippery ice. He was beginning to see where the name 'Icy Porcupine' came from.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Rather frustrating, isn't it?" </em>The commentator taunted. <em>"Well, we did say things were gonna get trickier this RCC!"</em></p><p class="p1">There were many cars screeching and swerving to dodge the nail traps, and Dream had to take car that he didn't crash into any of the others. <em>Left, right, left, right, left,</em> and he was out- and now he had to right himself so that he didn't go spinning over the ice. What made this <em>even</em> more shitty was that they didn't have ice tires- nope, this was cut throat survival. As he hit the slippery roads, he frantically spun his steering wheel so that he didn't go all over the place like quite a few unfortunate drivers were going. He could hear who he was pretty certain was Quackity shriek, <em>"THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIIIFE!"</em>, before he had to swerve to avoid a blur of blue and white that was spinning like a top over the ice. (He laughed to that, he had to admit.)</p><p class="p1">Dream swore loudly as he felt a stray car scratch the side of his car, his <em>beautiful</em> car, veering to the left to avoid a silver car that would have brained him. Then, he flew off the ice onto normal tar-made road once again.</p><p class="p1"><em>"FUCK YEAH!"</em> he whooped as he sped forward, leaving many cars to bite the dust. Ahead was a stretch of road in which he could drive in peace. He peered through the car's windshield to look outside, to see the wave of people cheering from the stands and various giant banners put up in the sky. There were several advertisements, then there was art of the racers. He could spot several racers on the banner- Punz, Skeppy, Purpled, HBomb, Techno. He caught several of the Dream Team, before finding one of himself, raising a peace sign in the air with the quote <em>'can't talk- I'm too busy winning'. </em>He smirked, looked at the bottom of the banner to see the name of the artist: SAD-ist.</p><p class="p1">Besides him, there were quite a few cars speeding along. He could spot Sapnap, there was Eret, Tommy, another racer named Wilbur in a wicked black <strong><a href="https://www.gtspiritmedia.com/gtspirit/uploads/2015/06/Aston-Martin-Vulcan-11.jpg">Aston Martin</a></strong>, as he rolled ahead neck-to-neck with them. Tommy gave him a competitive nudge, hitting the side of his car with his, making him curve to the right. Dream bit back a growl, before slamming right back- <em>yeah, two could play this game.</em> From the other side, another car rammed into his, and now Dream found himself sandwiched between 2 cars who were both trying to squish him. <em>Perfect.</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Ooh!"</em> the spectator hyped. <em>"Looks like our favorite faceless racer has gotten himself in a headlock! How is he gonna get himself out of that one?"</em></p><p class="p1">Dream tried swerving them off, but they stubbornly stayed put like fleas on a dog. <em>What were they, super-glued to his damn car?</em> He made a frustrated sound, hitting his steering wheel in irritation. They were slowing him down!</p><p class="p1">Then an idea struck him, and he grinned. Ah, now they were gonna pretty much regret messing with him. He sped along with the cars, feigning confusion as he heard one of the drivers laugh. Then, he hit the brakes. The two racers were definitely not prepared for that- as Dream slipped out from between them, they slammed into each other and went spinning instead. Dream hooted, going around the cars that were now swerving frantically to get back on track.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Smart move! I give him the props for that!"</em> the commentator spoke and Dream grinned- <em>1 point for him! </em>Beside him, he could see George give him a thumbs-up from his car.</p><p class="p1">He looked up at an enormous blinking screen that was mounted up in the air, displaying the leaderboard. His name was flashing alongside the position of 6th- oh well, he was no longer in the lead, but he was pretty close to the top 5, and he had plenty of time to catch up.</p><p class="p1">Dream sped along, crossing the next few obstacles that came in his way- dodging hurdles, avoiding coal pits, going through 9 roundabouts, driving over wooden logs. They were all tricky enough, and people were getting eliminated, but so far they didn't have that RCC extremeness in it. They seemed simple- too simple. Not that he was complaining, since it had given him time to once again secure his spot in the top 3, but he had a feeling. Sorta like his spidey senses were tingling.</p><p class="p1"><em>"How are you finding it so far, racers?"</em> The commentator asked. <em>"Easy enough? Think you're gonna win this? Because I think this is child's play."</em></p><p class="p1">Ah, there it was.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Time to spice things up! I think you guys will see our little surprise in a few meters."</em>
</p><p class="p1">Dream craned his neck to look ahead- he couldn't really see any obstacle standing on the road or anything blocking his path. Then, he saw something- something that looked like... circles? The closer Dream got, the more confused he became. There were big yellow circles painted on the ground, each with a red cross stretching across it. There were many of them randomly scattered across the ground, going on for quite a while. </p><p class="p1">Huh?</p><p class="p1"><em>"Confused?"</em> the voice spectated. <em>"Let me give you a hint. Do you all remember those dynamites we mentioned at the beginning of the race?"</em></p><p class="p1">Dream's eyes immediately snapped wide open. <em>Holy fuck, did they-</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Well, we weren't trolling you. Under each circle is a stack of dynamite, which we will blow up at random. Your goal is to try not to get yeeted into the sky,"</em> there was a chuckle,<em> "though good luck with that! On that note, let's get things blowing!"</em></p><p class="p1">And then to Dream's horror, as soon as he and the other racers reached the circles, the road <em>started to blow up!</em> There was a loud echoing boom as the first stack of dynamites exploded, and through the car mirrors he saw as a large chunk of road blew up, leaving a massive crater in his wake. Several cars swerved, narrowly missing the hole. Then there was another boom, ahead him this time, and he almost let out a yell as he saw one of the cars fall into the hole.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Holy-!</em>
</p><p class="p1">He was pretty sure the driver wasn't hurt or anything, but falling into a hole can't be that pretty. There were several explosions at once, the ground shaking with the vibrations rolling all around.</p><p class="p1"><em>This is a </em>very<em> unfriendly Fourth of July,</em> his mind supplied unhelpfully. <em>Not at</em> all <em>family friendly.</em></p><p class="p1"><em>Shut up brain! </em>he scolded himself.</p><p class="p1">He zigzagged through the minefield, barely missing a few explosions. He was halfway through, nearly outta there, and he was stepping on the engine, trying to get the hell out of there-</p><p class="p1">Then there was an explosion, right in front of him, and this time he <em>did</em> yell. Right ahead of him formed a crater bigger than the size of his car, and he was close, <em>very</em> close, too close to brake, too close to swerve, he was gonna fall in if he didn't do anything-</p><p class="p1">So he did the only logical thing he could think of. He slammed the accelerator, and jumped over the hole.</p><p class="p1">His car flew over the crater at a speed of 210 mph, his eyes and mouth wide open, a shriek tearing out from his throat as he soared over the enormous hole like some frickin' majestic horse, fingers crossed and hoping that he landed onto the road and not nose-dive into the crater. Then the front tires crashed onto solid ground, jerking his entire car, as he landed bumpily on the road and shakily sped ahead. He nearly sobbed with relief.</p><p class="p1">"I'm alive!" he cried, speeding ahead. Around him, he could see the number of cars noticeably decreased, only cut down to a rough dozen. He looked around to see if his friends survived- he saw Sapnap speeding alongside on the far left, George right behind him, and Bad still crossing the minefield, doing well enough. <em>They were all still here, let's go!</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Oh my god!"</em> the commentator laughed into the microphone. <em>"That was wild! Oh my god!"</em> There was an overlap of voices on the speakers, all the judges speculating and laughing at the same time. Dream scowled. <em>Laugh all you want, asshats, you weren't the ones who had to do that.</em></p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Now we're more than halfway through Parkour Warriors, and we only have 14 racers remaining! That sure a big jump from a 40!"</em>
</p><p class="p1"><em>14? </em> Holy crap!</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Our lucky finalists are Illumina, FruitBerries, HBomb, Dream, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo, Technoblade, Ph1lza, Captain Sparkles, The Eret, Wilbur Soot, Tapl, and Skeppy! Congratulations on making it so far, racers! But I will be lying if I say that things get simpler for you- we do need to make elimination harder. So now it's time to play a favorite childhood game- The Floor Is Lava!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Ahead him, he saw huge trucks with ramps behind them. And on the floor lay <em>actual steaming lava.</em> Holy crap, this was like some twisted version of Subway Surfers. He could see many cars slow down with hesitation at seeing the lava. But Dream wasn't one to back away from a challenge. Instead, his eyes jumped from one truck to another, strategising how he was going to cross this, his brain making a map in his mind and formulating a solution. He sped forward, heading for the truck on the left. </p><p class="p1">His car went up the first ramp, and he kept a steady pace for this one- this one required brains, not speed. Each truck top was 10 meters long, and wide enough to accommodate a car at a time. There was a gap of 3 meters between the truck he was on top of and the one ahead him. He took a breath, increased his speed slightly to take a control jump, and landed with a slight jostle. He slowly proceeded to the next truck, going in the same careful fashion- starting slow, calculating the jump, increasing his speed and leaping over; he was slowly getting a hang of it. Behind him, he could see Sapnap's car making slow progress, and other cars carefully climb over as well.</p><p class="p1">Then came a challenge: there was a truck he landed on, but there was no straight exit here, instead the nearest truck lay horizontal to his right. </p><p class="p1"><em>"Mmh,"</em> he said, eyebrows creased as he tried to see how he was going to  get over there. He couldn't turn his car sideways on the truck- it was too narrow. But he had to steer to get to the truck. How was he... wait a second. <em>What if he turned mid-air?</em></p><p class="p1">It was a risky move, he knew it. But it was better than doing nothing. Plus, he didn't really have a choice at the moment.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Here we go.</em>
</p><p class="p1">He did the same routine- going slow, seeing the gap, and then accelerating. But this time, he turned to the right. It was a small turn, curving to the side a bit as he jumped over. Then, once in the air, he turned a bit more. His car landed on the truck almost perfectly, crooked by perhaps a degree, and he gave a smug smile; he was pogging his way through this thing. He went through leaping over trucks, bending in the air and landing with perfection.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Well, well, Dream is quite the acrobat here, folks!"</em> the voice commented, and his smile turned wide. There was a reason he was Parkour God, you know? </p><p class="p1">Behind him, he suddenly heard a splash, and he immediately turned behind to see Tapl's car swimming in the lava. His eyes grew big- that was <em>not</em> good.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Oh no! As we can, ladies and gentlemen, see we've lost Tapl to the heat, and we're immediately sending in our team,"</em> the commentator rushed, and following his words Dream could see a giant yellow crane behind down and grab the race car with its large metal claw, and scoop it out of the lava- only the tires were sizzling. He let out a breath of relief he hadn't realised he had been holding. Turning back forward, he concentrated on leaping his way out. There were quite a few splashes from behind him, signalling that racers were dropping out like dead flies, as he flew over trucks. Finally, he reached the final truck and sped down the ramp.</p><p class="p1"><em>"And Dream is the first one to complete the section!"</em> the voice boomed, and Dream felt elation fill him up. <em>"Congratulations, young man!"</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"We've lost quite a few racers here- Tapl, Captain Sparkles-"</em> Dream could feel his heart sink a bit, <em>"-Skeppy, Wilbur Soot, FruitBerries, and BadBoyHalo."</em></p><p class="p1">Dream gasped. <em>"No!"</em> he exclaimed. Bad was gone? Oh no!</p><p class="p1">He set his eyes forward, more determined than ever. He was going to win this race- he was going to win for Bad.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Now we have our top 8, and this is a rather hard set, with equally talented racers. You all have done well, racers, well done! But there is only ever one winner to a race, and we'll let the Ramps decide your fate."</em>
</p><p class="p1">Ooh.. ramps. Each RCC Parkour had some form of ramps involved in them, and Dream looked ahead to see the type they had set out this time. He sped ahead, squinting at the ramps.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"This RCC, we have perhaps one of the trickiest form of ramps," the voice announced. "There are 5 ramps in total, and you need to jump off each. But that sounds too simple for a finale, so we have added in a twist- with each jump, the size of the ramp decreases, and the space between them increases. You have to time your jumps perfectly, or you fall of the ramp. And at the end, we present you with a Ring Of Fire."</em>
</p><p class="p1">Dream sucked in a breath- this was not pretty. He knew how tricky the ramps were going to be. If the width of each ramp would decrease, and the space between them would increase, they had to have the perfect speed and landing, so that they didn't overshoot or miss a ramp. And a Ring Of Fire at the end didn't really help. A Ring Of Fire, for the record, was a large metal hoop coated in gasoline and set ablaze, through which they had to jump. Touch the edges, and you're toast- literally.</p><p class="p1">His car zoomed forward, and he could see a car hot on his trail- Techno was right behind him. He tore his eyes away from the hot pink blur and looked forward, hitting his accelerator. His engine roared as he shot towards the ramps.</p><p class="p1">The first one came in range, and he climbed upon it. The ramps were all roughly 10 meters in width- wide enough to accommodate 4 cars at once. But the lengths differed. The first ramps was 20 meters long, the second 15 meters, the third 10, the fourth around 7 and a half, and the last one a scary 5 meters. The gaps between the ramps went in an ascending order- 5 meters, 7.5, 10, and then 15. At the end was the hoop burning in all glory, the brightness of the crackling fire imprinting itself in his retinas.</p><p class="p1">His car rolled over the solid metal ramp, eyes set on the next ramp, eyeing the gap in between, next to him he saw Techno's pink car come alongside, and HBomb's Mercedes on his left.</p><p class="p1"><em>Ignore them,</em> he told himself. <em>You need to get over this first.</em></p><p class="p1">The jump came, and he flew over, landing with a thud easily on Ramp Number 2, controlling his speed as the next gap came much faster. He could feel his car bounce up slightly as the other cars landed as well- he was in the lead, but not by much. He leaped over the next jump, landing and adjusting again. He had to stay constantly alert, or he would overshoot with excessive speed. His hands flew over the gears and steering, while spontaneously footing over the clutches. This required focus, much more focus than all of his previous hurdles. Then came Jump 3, and he had even lesser time to slow down and re-accelerate. <em>Just one more ramp left now.</em> He flew over to Ramp 5, doing a scrappy landing but landing all the same.</p><p class="p1">Phew. Now it's time to get toasty.</p><p class="p1">On the ramp with him were 3 other cars- Sapnap on his right, Illumina on his other side, and Techno on the far left. His eyes met Sapnap's, who gave him a reassuring nod. Then he turned to the side to glance at the other 2 before he made his jump. Techno was looking straight ahead, deeply focused. Illumina was...</p><p class="p1">Staring right at him.</p><p class="p1">Illumina's helmet had a full visor, so he could see his face. And at the moment, he was smiling and Dream. But the smile was unsettling, making Dream a little uneasy. He flashed a smile at Dream, who frowned slightly. <em>What...</em></p><p class="p1">Then suddenly he saw Illumina's black Mustang slow down, and Dream could feel his unease go up. <em>This didn't feel good...</em> At 4 meters of the ramp left, when he was starting to prepare for his flight through the Ring Of Fire, Illumina suddenly swerved right, heading right into Dream's radar. Dream yelped, starting to swerve to the side, but the other car smashed into the back of his Hypersport, sending him in a top spin to the right. He yelled, feet hitting the breaks frantically and hands spinning the steering, but the momentum took him ahead anyways. His car was spinning like a top, taking one whole revolution within a meter. The world was a blur of colors and he was yelling, trying to get the car to stop. The car continued to stubbornly spin anyways.</p><p class="p1">His car did a 180° spin, and through the side window of his car he could see Illumina smirk at him, then speeding up to his level. Through his windshield he could see Sapnap sitting up straight in his car, no doubt yelling. On the other side he could see Techno's wide eyes look at him from his helmet.</p><p class="p1">"aaaaAAAAH!" Dream yelled, spinning the steering to the side so hard that it would almost snap out into his hand, and the car somehow stopped spinning and moved in a mostly wobbly line. Problem was, his car was backwards.</p><p class="p1"><em>Slightly</em> greater problem, he was on a ramp, and he was going to fly off.</p><p class="p1">Dream snapped his eyes to the side mirrors of the car, and he could see the end of the ramp barely a meter away. The commentator was shouting something, the audience screaming, engines of the cars revving, tires screeching, but all the sounds were warbled, as though his head was underwater. The noises washed over him with no meaning, and the only thing he could hear was his pounding heartbeat. He was 2 feet away, then 1, the Ring Of Fire nearing, and all he could do was hold tight as his car flew of the edge.</p><p class="p1">Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he soared through the air, the other cars neck-to-neck with his own. Sapnap's head was turned to him, eyes filled with shock and fear. Illumina's car was and inch ahead of his, his head set straight forward.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He was going to crash backwards. He was going to crash backwards, there was no way he could land, his car was going to crash, he was gonna lose, he was gonna die, oh god, oh god ohgod-</em>
</p><p class="p1">Then his eyes met Techno's piercing red gaze, and something inside him seemed to shift. Techno's eyes had surprise and concern in them, but there was something else. As soon as he met his eyes, Techno's gaze seemed to solidify, somehow managing to stop the pachinko balls of panic dancing inside Dream. His intense stare rooted Dream on the spot, and somehow managed to clear his thoughts. He brain, now instead of screaming 'we're all gonna die!' over and over like a broken record, seemed to direct a calm thought in his head.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He was flying backwards.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He was flying backwards, and there was nothing he could do about that. He couldn't turn his car around mid-air. </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>So he had to work with what he had.</em>
</p><p class="p1">His car was halfway through the jump, going higher. There was the constant noise around him, but he didn't focus on that. No, instead now he was going to focus on landing. How the hell was he going to land his car backwards? Well, he was Dream- and he was going to fucking clutch through this.</p><p class="p1">Dream focused, planning on how things were going to work out. Right now he was going to climb altitude, perhaps half a foot more, then he was going start descending down the curve. His car had the momentum, it was accelerated enough, so when he was going to land, it was highly likely that he wasn't going to flat-out dive into solid ground. The land would be a little rusty, no doubt, with lots of bumps, but he didn't really have much of an option. Then, right before he was going to land, he was going to hit the accelerator and spin the wheel, righting himself.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Well, that's sorted then.</em>
</p><p class="p1">Time seemed to come back in it's normal pace, the voices cutting through the filter that was formed around his head. As he predicted, his car started to descend roughly a second later. His hands were firmly gripping the steering wheel, eyes set on the side mirrors as he watched the ground approaching, 5 meters left, 3, 2, 1-</p><p class="p1">Just before he hit, he slammed the gas and spun the steering to the side, and braced himself for the crash land. The back tires pummelled onto the road, sending a shock wave throughout the car that shook him to the bones. His head snapped forward, but he kept his muscles locked, eyes squeezed, mouth pressed shut, and continued to steer rapidly. The front tires landed, making him jolt and hit his head on the low roof of the car, but his focus didn't waver. The car immediately took a sharp turn, the rubber tires screeching against the grounds, and he could see the ramps leave his view, the blur of the seated audience, the front of the race track-</p><p class="p1">He hit the brakes, shifted the gears, spun the steering and sped right forward onto the road, heading straight ahead; he saw the other cars just a few meters away from him. Adrenaline punped through his entire body, blood roaring in his ears, or maybe that was the sound of the crowd, he couldn't distinguish which was which.</p><p class="p1">OH. MY. GOD.</p><p class="p1">OH. MY. GOD!</p><p class="p1"><em>"OH MY GOD!"</em> he breathed, laughing. <em>He- oh my god- he did it! Holy shit! He... holy shit!</em></p><p class="p1">He landed the car backwards!</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Boohoo, cracker!</em>
</p><p class="p1"><em>"Holy shit, he did it!"</em> the voice of the commentator boomed, filled with awe. <em>"He actually did it! He clutched through the damn jump!"</em></p><p class="p1">
  <em>He clutched through the damn jump!</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Ladies and gentlemen, if there's one thing I've learnt- never mess with DreamWasTaken! The man was hit, but he jumped right back, and he's back in the game! I repeat, he is back!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">The crowd was going absolutely b a n a n a s. They were howling and screaming and roaring, loud enough to be heard outside of the RCC. He could have sworn he had heard the SpongeBob battle cry reverberate in the stadium. All the cries and cheers filled him with new-found energy, and he zoomed ahead filled with more determination than ever.</p><p class="p1">First came Illumina's car, the fucking bastard. Oh, the way the smug smile got wiped out of his face when he saw Dream's car speed ahead of his, Dream could shamelessly admit that he cackled at the sight. He was in the top 3, speeding ahead to overtake the next car. He could see Sapnap's Ferrari nearing, and as he overtook it, Sapnap scrolled down his windows and yelled, <em>"You're gonna win it, Dre!"</em></p><p class="p1">Dream grinned, then hit the boosts on his dashboard, propelling ahead at 240 mph, suddenly stacking right next to Techno's hot pink McLaren. Both of them were level pegging, each trying to overtake the other, a green blur against pink.</p><p class="p1">The road curved ahead, and he could see the finish line at the end, the black-and-white line painted across the road, while one of the staff members held the checkered flag. Techno and Dream both had their turbo boosts on, blueish-orange flames streaking behind both cars. Both pairs of eyes focused at the end, it was down to just both of them, 2 of the greatest racers to exist, <em>how oddly poetic.</em></p><p class="p1"><strong>500 meters,</strong> and he was closing in. <strong>400 meters, 300, 200.</strong> Neither cars were refusing to slow down, neither stopping, both effortlessly gliding on the roads as though it were ice.</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>50 meters, 40, 30, 20.</strong>
</p><p class="p1">Then, at a rough estimate of 17 meters, he saw Techno's car do a little jig, revving ahead and then going slightly back. And then, his car started to slow down. Through his peripheral vision, he could see the driver look down at the dashboard of his car, hitting the steering with an open palm. Dream could feel energy build up inside him- Techno's boost was getting over. Dream's car started to inch ahead of his, taking lead, the distance between their cars increasing from a feet to 2, then 3.5.</p><p class="p1">The finish line was <strong>10 meters away, 5, </strong></p><p class="p1">
  <strong>3,</strong>
</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>2,</strong>
</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>1.</strong>
</p><p class="p1">Dream's bright lime Lykan Hypersport crossed the finish line in sync with the finishing horn that was sounded, just followed by Technoblade's hot pink McLaren. He slowed down, stopping his car, then tearing open the side door and leaping out, pushing the windshield of his helmet up.</p><p class="p1">All around him, from either side, he could see the crowd on their feet, roaring and chanting, waving their banners. Only one word was to be heard.</p><p class="p1">
  <strong> <em>"DREAM! DREAM! DREAM! DREAM!"</em> </strong>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Dream. His name. DreamWasTaken. The name of the champion, the champion of Parkour Warrior.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"And he had done it! He has done it! Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the winner of Parkour Warrior, the ultimate undefeated champion, DreamWasTaken!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">He felt his knees go weak under him as the crowd screamed chaos. He was tired, sweaty, battered and bruised, but he had never felt more alive in his entire life. His legs gave away underneath him, but before he could get down, a body slammed into his, hands tightening around him and lifting him off his feet. </p><p class="p1"><em>"DREAM, YOU SON OF A BITCH!</em> Sapnap screamed, crushing Dream in his tight embrace. <em>"YOU FUCKING DID IT!"</em></p><p class="p1">Another pair of arms wrapped around his, and he could make out George's blue-and-red streaked helmet butt under his chin.</p><p class="p1"><em>"YOU WON!"</em> George yelled. <em>"YOU WON DREAM, YOU WON!"</em></p><p class="p1">From the sidelines, he could see Bad run over to them, launching over the hugging stack.</p><p class="p1"><em>"YOU COMPLETE MUFFINHEAD!"</em> Bad exclaimed with fierce gusto. <em>"I KNEW YOU'D DO IT!"</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Presenting the leaderboard," </em>the commentator stated. <em>"Dream stands 1st, followed by Technoblade, Sapnap, Illumina, and GeorgeNotFound. Congratulations to our Top 5!"</em></p><p class="p1"><em>"Ayyy!"</em> Sapnap yelled, jumping. "We all made it in the Top 5!"</p><p class="p1">"Well, not all of us," Dream said, looking at Bad, who gave an indifferent <em>eh</em>.</p><p class="p1">"I came 6th," he said, shrugging. "That's about as good as a 5."</p><p class="p1">They whooped, pulling each other into a group hurdle, locking heads. They were all wearing their helmets, but judging by the crinkles at the corners of their eyes, Dream could tell they were grinning widely. Just like he was.</p><p class="p1">There was a pat on his back, and Dream turned around to see Technoblade standing behind, arms crossed. He still had his helmet on- he never took of his in public, just like the rest of the Team. His head was tilted to the side, expression neutral. Dream straightened up and looked at him.</p><p class="p1">"You were good," Dream said, giving a truthful nod, which Techno returned.</p><p class="p1">"As were you," he said. Then he extended his hand forward. "Gg."</p><p class="p1">Dream looked at the open hand, then shook it. "Gg," he replied. Techno's eyes were warm, almost as though as he were smiling. Dream smiled back anyways, even though he couldn't see it.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Oh, but is that all?"</em> the commentator suddenly mused. All of them turned to look up at the speakers.</p><p class="p1">"We had mentioned at the beginning, that Parkour Warriors was the concluding event. Since we have finished it, we now total out the scores to see who has one- who has one the RCC."</p><p class="p1">Dream's eyes widened-<em> he had completely forgotten about that!</em></p><p class="p1">All eyes were on the leaderboard, in which the names of the racers got replaced by the teams. On the top 3 were the <em>Cyan Centipedes, Fuchsia Frankensteins</em> and <em>Red Ravens</em>, with each of their corresponding points next to them. Points were given to each team based on the rank each team mate got in a race. Their team name was second, and Dream felt his heart sink a little.</p><p class="p1">"It's okay," he said to the team. "We didn't win this RCC, but at least we got Parkour under our belt. There are gonna be many other RCC's for us to compete-"</p><p class="p1">Suddenly, the numbers next to the teams changed, and Dream realised that the points of today's race was being added right now. <em>Ohhhh-</em></p><p class="p1">His eyes snapped back onto the screen, heart pumping, as the numbers next to their team name flashed.</p><p class="p1">1864 points.</p><p class="p1">1869.</p><p class="p1">1870.</p><p class="p1">1873.</p><p class="p1">The number <em>1873</em> flashed next to their name, 3 more points more that the number on top, and Dream shouted as Fuchsia Frankensteins swapped with the Cyan Centipedes, moving onto the top of the leaderboard, taking the lead rank. He was screaming, so were the others, he couldn't tell who's voice was who's, and he felt arms wrap around him and hoist him up as the commentator yelled.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"And we have our winner! Together, DreamWasTaken, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap and BadBoyHalo have taken home the trophy! <strong>The Fuchsia Frankensteins have won the 11th Racing Championship!"</strong></em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>---</strong>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">"WE WON!" Sapnap yelled for the 13th time, and no one stopped him. </p><p class="p1">The past hour was total chaos, with screaming demanding fans and loads of bone-crushing hugs and a million congratulations. Dream was presented the medal for Parkour Championship, and they had gotten the RCC11 <strong><a href="https://www.thetrophytrolley.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/rf34-1.jpg">trophy</a></strong>- a shiny, golden, half a pound heavy and 1.3 meter long beauty, which was currently sitting in the back of Bad's car. Oh, and they had each gotten sweet gold crowns. They had immediately sneaked out after, ditching the after party like they always did- they had to get away from the police squads, after all.</p><p class="p1">They were currently zipping through the roads, enjoying the crisp night breeze. It was late in the night, 11:34PM to be precise, which was why the streets were mostly empty. They cruised through the night in peace, windows rolled down to enjoy the cool air, their voices flowing with the wind.</p><p class="p1">Dream was chuckling. "I still can't believe that we won!" he exclaimed. "I mean guys, am I awake? Am I dreaming?"</p><p class="p1">"No, Dre, pretty sure we're awake," George said, laughing, grinning at him.</p><p class="p1">"But this is so surreal!" Dream breathed. "I mean, I just won Parkour, and we won RCC 11! This is too good to be true!"</p><p class="p1">"Nope," Sapnap stated. "You doing that insane jump off the ramp was surreal. I mean, the hell was that?"</p><p class="p1">"Sapnap's right," Bad said. "What <em>was</em> that, Dream? You literally meme-d Illumina!"</p><p class="p1">Dream winced at the sour memory. "The idiot was trying to push me off, but I clutched my way through like I always do." Dream concluded cheerfully.</p><p class="p1">"It was wild, though," Sapnap shuddered. "I mean, I saw your car spin off the ramp and I thought you were gonna crash down. But then you just pulled off that crazy-ass stunt, and I was actually laughing when I saw you do that."</p><p class="p1">"It's Dream we're talking about," George taunted. "The idiot's always gotta flex."</p><p class="p1">"I wasn't flexing!" Dream protested, as George and Sapnap snickered out. "I saw it on Reddit! Besides, the fucker scraped the paint from the side of the car!" he whined.</p><p class="p1">Sapnap stared at him, yelling <em>"That's</em> what you were worried about?!", and George incredulously let out <em>"Reddit?"</em> while Bad scolded <em>"Language!"</em>.</p><p class="p1">They all bantered amongst each other, laughing and complaining childishly as they sped home, the cars turning into the ghetto roads. By the time they reached the warehouse, their conversation had taken a turn from RCC 11 to... apple juice versus orange juice. <em>Yeah, they were actual kids.</em></p><p class="p1">"OJ is <em>far</em> more superior!" Sapnap argued, as Bad opened the garage doors using the remote he had from before that day. "Apple juice tastes weird, man."</p><p class="p1">Dream gasped. "Dude, no!" he said, making gagging sounds. "Orange juice has weird pulp shit in the bottom."</p><p class="p1">"That's what makes it so good!"</p><p class="p1">"Hell no!"</p><p class="p1">They all rolled into the warehouse, the door closing behind them, as they parked their cars. Dream pushed open the side door, stepping out, pulling off his helmet and shaking sweaty helmet hair out of his eyes. Oh boy, he needed the AC on <em>yesterday. </em>He was sweating like a damn pig.</p><p class="p1">The others followed suit, lazily stepping out of the car and stretching, loosening out. Dream yawned-<em> today was tiring.</em></p><p class="p1">"You have weird taste buds, Clay," Sapnap said, wrinkling his nose. Dream flipped him off. Sapnap stuck out his tongue in return.</p><p class="p1">"Boys, boys," Bad said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Let's all calm down, we just came from the race course."</p><p class="p1">"Then tell the heathen to stop drinking his 'OJ'!" Dream grumbled, making air quotes on 'OJ'.</p><p class="p1">"I'm the heathen? He's the one who drinks stupid apple juice!" Sapnap said, offended. Bad shook his head, turning away from them to put his helmet on a nearby work bench. Dream whirled around to look at George.</p><p class="p1">"George," he begged. "You're my only hope. Try to make the man understand what sorcery he is drinking!" George gave a helpless smile as Dream put his hands together in a begging posture.</p><p class="p1">"C'mon Gogy, you know what's better!" Sapnap cried out. George laughed.</p><p class="p1">"Guys, I..." he started, then trailed off. He then raised his head and looked ahead, eyes focusing on something behind them, a frown growing on his face. "...guys?"</p><p class="p1">Dream turned around to see what he was looking at, and jumped back. From the corners of the garage, white gas was spewing out, making heavy clouds that were filling the room.</p><p class="p1">"What the-?" Dream started, but before he could complete, there was a hissing sound from behind him, and he whipped around to see more white smoke spraying from all the corners of the warehouse. The fog was filling up the room with alarming speed, and Dream gave a loud cough as the smoke filled his lungs.</p><p class="p1"><em>"Guys!"</em> he cried out weakly, but the smoke was gushing in through his mouth and nose, scratching his throat and making him feel woozy. <em>Very</em> woozy. Someone said something, but it was as good as a Chinese whisper which Dream couldn't decipher.</p><p class="p1">He dropped down onto his knees, and he could hear faint thuds around him, telling him that the others were falling. He tried to reach out to them, but his arms wouldn't work, neither would his voice. His head felt foggy, as though it were getting filled with cotton and helium, making him <em>so</em> very light-headed. </p><p class="p1"><em>Sleep?</em> his brain supplied. <em>Sleep it is.</em></p><p class="p1">And before he had time to rethink his decision, he felt his body fall onto the ground, cheek pressed against the cool concrete, the fog turning his vision white, which soon faded into darkness as his eyes closed.</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Damn! That was hella long! Aaaaaaand *insert drumroll* cliffhanger!<br/>There are a few things I wanna mention though:<br/>a) I know that Tommy and Tubbo are 16 years old, but I've made them 18 to make things a lil bit more legit- 16 year old racers is a little hard to believe, don't ya think?<br/>b) I don't know Dream's last name! All we know about the guy is that his first name is Clay. I just named him Clay Jackson cuz I think it sounds cool- that is NOT his last name!<br/>c) I have thrown in a few MCC references, such as the team names, races, Fuchsia Frankensteins, the parkour blowing up etc. But it's not the exact same thing! For example, in the Fuchsia Frankensteins's team, I replaced Karl with Bad<br/>d) Tons of little easter eggs, like Fundy &amp; Dream's marriage, a few phrases here and there, the number 14 at the end etc. Brownie points for all those who can spot 'em!</p><p>and yes I mentioned SAD-ist ;) (she's awesome, you guys!)</p><p>Comments &amp; kudos make my day! Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Room</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Continuing after the cliffhanger...<br/>Where are the boys now?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Before we begin, I am so sorry that I haven't been updating!<br/>I had actually tested positive with Covid, so there wasn't much I could really do. Nothing very extreme, thankfully! But I did lose all sense of taste and felt really sick, so I couldn't pull myself to write.<br/>I'm much better now! Which is why... *insert drumroll*<br/>I come bearing presents!<br/>This is a veeeeeery short chapter compared to my other ones- think of it as a filler. I'm still sorta sick, so my mind's slowly outputting the story (sorry for that guys :/)<br/>But, I am happy to announce, the story is back in business!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <em>Blurry mind, blurry thoughts, blurry self.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">He felt woozy, oddly tired in that way when you've slept for 11 hours but you still want to sleep more, eyelids refusing to open as though they were pierced with weights. His entire body felt sluggish, muscles refusing to contract and move, head lolled on his chest. He reckoned he'd been sleeping for a long time, now seemed like a really good time to wake up.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Why was he sleeping again?</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">His eyes slowly cracked open a centimetre. All he could see was a strip of bright white, and he felt like closing his eyes, but also felt too lazy so that's how he stayed.</p>
<p class="p1">He strained his mind, trying to remember the last thing that had happened. Racing tracks, roads, cars going vroom.<em> Cars! Like Lightening McQueen! </em>The corner of his mouth faintly turned up, as he suddenly had the most compulsive desire to giggle. Something told him that he shouldn't giggle. But he wanted to giggle! <em>No Dream, don't giggle. Giggling is rude. Bad Dream!</em></p>
<p class="p1">This was weird. Was he drunk?</p>
<p class="p1"><em>Gaaaaasp</em>. He was drunk! He was drunk, and he was dreaming about cars!</p>
<p class="p1">Dream was dreaming about cars.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Heee-heeee…</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">His mind speedran through his memories- cars, RCC, winning <em>(that seemed fun!)</em>, home, warehouse, orange juice <em>(huh... interesting)</em>, white fog, more fog-</p>
<p class="p1">Wait.</p>
<p class="p1">Fog?</p>
<p class="p1">His brain slammed the brakes, snapping to a stop.<em> Fog?</em> There was fog? Why was there fog? </p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>The fog was filling up the room with alarming speed-</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>The smoke was gushing in through his mouth and nose, scratching his throat and making him feel woozy-</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>He dropped down onto his knees, and he could hear faint thuds around him, telling him that the others were falling. He tried to reach out to them, but his arms wouldn't work, neither would his voice. His head felt foggy, as though it were getting filled with cotton and helium, making him so very light-headed-</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">He wasn't sleeping. Alarms bells begin to go off in his head. And the white stuff wasn't fucking clouds.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>So that meant-</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">"-ream? Dream?"</p>
<p class="p1">Dream's eyes snapped open as he sat up with a sharp gasp, hastily scrambling to his feet. He felt hands loop around his waist, trying to restrain him but he threw his arms around blindly, trying to throw off whoever was holding him. The person made no attempts to hurt him, but he needed to get away, get free, get out-</p>
<p class="p1">"Dream!" The person shouted and Dream whipped around to come face to face with Sapnap, whose eyes were equally as wide as his. "Calm down! It's just me!"</p>
<p class="p1">"Wha-" he panted, stopping in his place. "What- what is it? What's going on? Who is- where-"</p>
<p class="p1">"Hey, hey," Sapnap said, giving his shoulders a grounding squeeze. Dream felt a little less rushed now that he had seen a familiar face. <em>"Breathe. Inhale.</em> It's me, Sapnap, your friend. Say it after me. <em>Sapnap."</em></p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Sapnap,"</em> Dream breathed back.</p>
<p class="p1">"Sapnap," the younger man said with a reassuring nod. "Good. You good?"</p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, I'm... I'm great. Never felt better," Dream slowly removed himself from Sapnap's grip and looked around. "Uh, we got new furnishing or something?"</p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, we have no idea where we are either," A voice muttered from besides him. Dream swivelled his head to the side. <em>George.</em></p>
<p class="p1">"Last thing we knew, there was a lot of fog, some sort of gas, then we blacked out," Bad continued from the side of the room. "And now, here we are."</p>
<p class="p1">"Sleeping gas," Dream muttered, walking around the room. He ran his hands across the walls of the room.</p>
<p class="p1">The <strong><a href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/white-mental-hospital-room-interior-260nw-276804251.jpg">room</a></strong> was completely white, from the ceiling to the floor, fully covered with white soundproofing pads. It looked a lot like those mental asylum rooms you'd see in movies. There were square ceiling lights on the roof that lit up the room fairly enough. He couldn't find any doors or grooves of a door that led to an exit. From one corner of the room, a bright red dot winked at him- <em>surveillance camera.</em></p>
<p class="p1">"This is some kind of containment unit," Dream said, taking a 360° view of the room, spinning on his heel. "Soundproofing, no doors or windows, CCTV, that's all I can figure."</p>
<p class="p1">"Containment unit?" Bad said, a hint of pertub to his tone. "What are we, lab rats?"</p>
<p class="p1">Dream didn't answer- he honestly had zero clue as to why they were here.</p>
<p class="p1">"Man, I've only seen shit like this in movies," Sapnap said, knuckle-boxing one of the soundproof pads like it was a boxing bag.</p>
<p class="p1">"And that's coming from a guy who steals diamonds at day and pulls a Fast and Furious at the night," George said. Sapnap shrugged.</p>
<p class="p1">"Touché."</p>
<p class="p1">Dream had done analysing the room, and he was honestly confused. When he realised he was kidnapped, his first thoughts was of some epic mafia mob-boss kidnapping. But this place seemed way too sophisticated for a mob (and <em>maaaybe</em> he was letting his imagination run too wild). From what Dream could figure out, this place was well funded- the soundproofing wasn't the cheap foam kind, a Panasonic camera was mounted on the wall, he could feel the cool air of air conditioning on his skin, and AC's aren't exactly cheap-</p>
<p class="p1">Wait. Air-conditioning?</p>
<p class="p1">He looked up at the ceilings, eyes zeroing down at the edges. Air ducts, he needed to look for air ducts, then they could find an escape route that could lead them out of the room, maybe even out...</p>
<p class="p1">..but then he'd never find why he was here in the first place.</p>
<p class="p1">Dream let out a frustrated growl, having the strongest urge to stomp his foot like a petulant child- call him kiddy, but he couldn't figure it out!</p>
<p class="p1">"Hey," George said, and he snapped out of his thoughts. George was sitting on the floor, laid backwards and propped up on his elbows. He waved a hand ahead. "Whatcha thinking?"</p>
<p class="p1">"I just..." Dream walked ahead, settling himself besides him. "I don't get it. Why would anyone want to kidnap us?"</p>
<p class="p1">"Because of our ridiculously good looks?" Sapnap snorted.</p>
<p class="p1">"No man, seriously. I mean, look at us- a couple of robbers and street racers. What will people get from kidnapping us?"</p>
<p class="p1">"Maybe it's the police?" Bad tried. Dream shook his head.</p>
<p class="p1">"Nah, interrogation rooms aren't so fancy."</p>
<p class="p1">"Or maybe someone else found out about us? Like, everybody knows who we are, duh. But like, they found out where we live and stuff?" George speculated, to which Dream hummed.</p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, but who?" he pondered. "And why kidnap us?"</p>
<p class="p1">"Maybe they want the big fat flashy diamond we stole?" Sapnap said. "Or just some money? Or the cars, maybe? Not sure why they'd want those, but they are pretty sweet cars."</p>
<p class="p1">They were all guessing, but they were blind guesses. Dream wanted a solid answer. <em>Why were they here? Where was 'here'? What do they want from them? Who's the 'they'? </em>He wasn't sure how his head hadn't exploded from all the questions.</p>
<p class="p1">Without warning, he sprang up to his feet, ignoring the questioning looks the others were giving him, and marched up to the corner of the room from where the camera tracked their every move. He planted himself right in front of it, hands on his hips and everything, and glared into its little black eye.</p>
<p class="p1">"Hey!" he yelled. "Let us out!"</p>
<p class="p1"><em>'Let us out'</em>- the typical move line. Now he felt like a cliché.</p>
<p class="p1">"Why did you guys bring us here?" he went on. "Where the hell are we? Who the hell are you, actually?"</p>
<p class="p1">The camera didn't do anything, just continued to peer down at him innocently. Dream wasn't sure if there was a mic that caught his audio feed, but he continued to shout anyways.</p>
<p class="p1">"Look, I don't even know if you can hear me, or all you can see is some dude yelling on your monitors," he said. "So you mind giving me a bit of a signal? Maybe a camera nod?"</p>
<p class="p1">No movement. He groaned inwardly.</p>
<p class="p1">"This is a pretty 5-star place you've got going on, so I'm pretty sure you got a mic in here," he said. "I know you can hear me." He didn't, of course.</p>
<p class="p1">"So give me a signal, goddammit! Say something! We want answers! How 'bout you send one of your guys down here and let him tell us, huh?"</p>
<p class="p1">Dream stood up taller, a new-found confidence sparked in him.</p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, if you think you got the balls, why don't you send one of your guys down here? Let us have a little chit-chat? Because I think we deserve to get some answers."</p>
<p class="p1">"C'mon," Sapnap shouted from the back of the room. "A couple of roadies won't be able to do anything to your beef-cake bouncers!"</p>
<p class="p1">"You heard the man!" Dream said. He spread his arms. "Do it! Send one of your dudes down here to spill the tea!"</p>
<p class="p1">Dream really hoped that those guys could hear him, because if not, all they would be seeing a 6-foot blonde Christ The Redeemer barking at the camera.</p>
<p class="p1">Then, as though Jesus had heard his prayers, a door magically seemed to swing open behind him.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Alright, Dream was <em>not</em> prepared for <em>that</em> to happen. He let out a small mortified shriek as somebody stepped in.</p>
<p class="p1"><em>Way to go Dream,</em> he thought weakly. <em>So much for first impression.</em></p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ooh, another cliffy! <br/>Can y'all guess who it is? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!<br/>I did tell you it was gonna be a short chapter (I apologise once again- I sorta have a migraine rn, so imma lie down for a bit)<br/>But I think the next update will be out be today itself! (emphasis on 'think)</p>
<p>Love y'all! Comments 'n' kudos are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Eye Spy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We see who the person is...<br/>And we get down to business<br/>No need to fear, the Sleepy Bois are here</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Eek. I did not like the way the last chapter went... at all.<br/>It was too short, a brief filler, and did not satisfy me<br/>Now imma force my sick brain to write something<br/>(Wish me luck, n please don't sure me if it sucks- I'm not all that good at writing)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door swung open to reveal a man dressed in all black, who then strode in.</p><p>He looked a lot like a stereotypical agent from MIB, wearing a 3-piece black suit that was perfectly fitted, paired with black formal shoes polished to perfection, a charcoal Rolex glinting on his wrist and a pair of Ray-Bens covering his eyes, making him look even more intimidating. His jet-black hair was perfectly gelled, and not a wrinkle was on his smooth olive skin. A black wireless earpiece was looped around one ear, and ID hung from his belt. The guy was tall and fit, and no doubt dangerous.</p><p>Yep. Pretty much your cosplay Agent Coulson. But the Glock 19 clipped to his waist did <em>not</em> look cosplay.</p><p>There were many things Dream should have done at that moment- back away, stay calm, raise his hands in surrender and beg<em> "PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME!"</em></p><p>One thing he was pretty sure he <em>wasn't</em> supposed to do was to kick the guy in his nuts.</p><p>As soon as the 'agent' stepped in, Dream recovered from his initial shock of seeing the door swing open out of nowhere, and proceeded to run forward and plant his foot in his crotch. The guy doubled over, no doubt completely unexpecting what just happened. He gave a small, surprised <em>'oof!'</em> of pain, grabbing the door for support, one hand on his abdomen. Then, Dream aimed a roundhouse on his face, causing the guy to fly back. He jumped over the man, straddling his waist and pinning his hands away from the gun with one hand, then unclipping the Glock and tossing it inside the room.</p><p>"Quick!" Dream yelled as the figure underneath him grunted, struggling and almost overthrowing him. "Help me!"</p><p>"Gotcha," he heard 2 voices chorus, and in no time Sapnap and George came over. Sapnap caught the guy's flailing hands, while George pressed down his thrashing legs.</p><p>"Alright," Dream said, his voice a little strained from still holding the man down- the guy was <em>strong.</em> "Now, mind telling us why you locked us up here?"</p><p>"What are you- let me go!" the guy yelled, straining to pull free, but 3 against 1 wasn't that much of a competition.</p><p>"I will," Dream assured him. "But first you tell me what's going on!"</p><p>"That- that's what I was sent here to tell you!" he yelped.</p><p>"Uh-huh?" Dream said. "And that's why you come in here with a bloody gun?"</p><p>"No!" the guy protested weakly. "That's just for protection! It-it's protocol! Agent protocol!"</p><p>"Oh, so you're an agent?" Dream said, raising an eyebrow. "Next thing you're gonna tell me, you brought us to your secret bunker and you're Jason Bourne underneath a mask."</p><p>"One of those 2 is true!" the so-called agent cried out. Dream could hear Sapnap snort.</p><p>But Dream was only half-joking when he said what he said. While the guy was speaking, Dream was adding things up in his head- soundproofed rooms, surveillance cams, guy wearing a 3-piece suit in the middle of August with a gun claiming that he's an agent... this was <em>suspiciously</em> starting to sound like some sort of secret agency plot...</p><p><em>But that's just stupid!</em> he told himself. <em>There are no 'secret agents' and 'spies' and 'secret bunker' and stuff like that- that's for the movies!</em></p><p><em>"And that's coming from a guy who steals diamonds at day and pulls a Fast and Furious at the night", </em>George's words replayed in his mind. Dream shook his head. No. This had to be some stupid prank, there is <em>no way</em> this spy stuff was true. Nope, he wasn't gonna buy it.</p><p>Dream looked down at the man. His sunglasses had come off in the struggle, and without them he didn't look all that intimidating. He looked at the man properly- even though he was currently yelling, Dream could tell he had a hardened face. The type that someone has after many years of interrogating. But his eyes were gentle, kinder. The man was bigger and stronger than himself, no doubt experienced. If he had wanted to shoot him and his friends with his gun, Dream was pretty sure he could have. But he didn't. When he stepped inside the room, he looked like he had come to inform them of something, not attack. So maybe he wasn't a bad guy?</p><p>Dream felt something lightly nudge him in the inside of his thigh, and he looked down to see the supposedly-agent's ID poke him in his leg. With one hand, he flipped the card to the front-side and looked at what was on it. It was quite similar to his RCC ID, with the needed info. It had the man's name (Augustus), age (27), position (Secret Informant) (hmm... sounds an awful lot like a spy), and a lot more information, but what really caught his eye was the logo at the bottom left corner of the card.</p><p>3 letters, in bright turquoise, with an <strong><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/db/2d/26/db2d26c06699942c798e57e0a4c319ca.png">eye</a></strong> on top: <strong>SMP</strong>.</p><p>"Okay, August," Dream said, looking back at the guy. "Wanna tell me what SMP stands for?"</p><p>"I-"</p><p>
  <em>"What the hell is going on over here?"</em>
</p><p>Dream froze, and so did the others, including the g- Dave. The voice was a strong. commanding one, forcing him to look up immediately.</p><p>Ahead him, walking down a hallway, was a woman. She looked like she was in her late 20's, and absolutely not somebody you wanted to fuck around with. She had dark chestnut-colored skin, and dark-brown hair worn into an immaculate bun on the top of her head. She wore a fitted black turtleneck tucked into a knee-length black pencil skirt <em>(black really seemed to be the standard color for spy stuff)</em>, and professional black pumps with heels that could kill. She had a black leather coat draped over her shoulders, donned dark rouge lipstick, and a <em>no-bullshit</em> look set in her eyes.</p><p>Dream gulped. That was one hell of an intimidating woman. And the clicking of her heels against the marble tiles didn't really help much.</p><p>The clicking stooped; the Lady stood at the hallway, still for a second, before resuming her march with twice the speed.</p><p>"What are you doing?" she shouted incredulously. "What have you- Gus! What are you doing to Gus?"</p><p>Dream, Sapnap, and George moved away from Gus, and all 4 of them scrambled to their feet. Bad quickly joined them to the door.</p><p>The Lady reached to them, with her arms planted on her hips, staring at them demandingly. Dream did his best not to cower.</p><p>"No!" he blurted suddenly, surprising not only the others but also himself with the outburst. The Lady raised and eyebrow in question.</p><p>"No?" she repeated. The authority radiating from her was overwhelming, but Dream stood his ground. There voice was a mixture of taken aback, confusion, and a bit of pissed.</p><p>"I mean, no, we should be the one asking you that," Dream quickly explained. "We should be asking you what are <em>you</em> doing, just kidnapping us from our house?" Dream could feel himself grow slightly more confident in his words. He wasn't sure how he was able to speak to her, much less speak <em>back</em>- she had a complete Jessica Pearson vibe, dominating and official.</p><p>The expressions on the Lady's face changed from skeptical to mostly understanding. "Ah, now that is what I had sent Gus to explain you about, before you knocked him down like a bowling pin." There was a slight stern note to her voice by the end of the sentence.</p><p>"Well, you send a guy with a gun to a room after you kidnap us, I think I'm bound to knock him down," Dream said, slightly aggravated. </p><p>"Those are just standard protocols," she breezed over. "He needs to carry one with him at all times. He had no intentions of shooting you down, trust me."</p><p>"Trust you?" Dream said, raising both his eyebrows. "Lady, I don't even know who you are!"</p><p>The Lady sighed. "Look, we just want to talk to you peacefully, okay?"</p><p>"Yeah, and <em>kidnapping us</em> really seems like extending the olive branch," he stated in a monotone voice. The Lady let out another long exhale, pinching the bridge of her nose, obviously losing some of her patience. She seemed like one of those people who didn't like hurdles in their task, and her task right now was to get Dream and the others on board with whatever she had in mind and play along. The thing was, neither Dream nor his friends just 'played along' by anybody else's plan until they had the whole picture, so they weren't budging. </p><p>The Lady gave him the <em>'you really wanna do this and test my patience and probably risk your life?'</em> look. Dream shot back with a <em>'heck yeah risking's my middle name'</em> stare. He was totally not cowering under her glare. She gave a final sigh, before turning to Gus, who was straightening his suit. Somehow, his hairdo wasn't a strand out of place (he didn't know how).</p><p>"Gus," she said, a resigned tone to her voice. "Bring the others."</p><p>Gus nodded and strode away, saying something into a mic clipped to the collar of his mic that Dream didn't notice earlier. Dream looked at The Lady in confusion.</p><p>"The others?" he asked, confused. She nodded.</p><p>"Yes," she said. "They need to be informed as well."</p><p>"So you kidnapped other people, and not just us?" Bad asked. Dream had completely forgotten about the others- they were all staring skeptically at The Lady.</p><p>"We do not 'kidnap' people," she cleared. "You're making us sound like the bad guys. That's not what we are."</p><p>"What <em>are</em> you, exactly?" George questioned. The Lady smirked like he'd hit jackpot.</p><p>"We," she said. "Are the SMP. The Secret Missionary Program."</p><p>"Wait, so like a spy organization?" Sapnap said. "Like MI6? Or Interpool?"</p><p>She huffed. 'We're much better."</p><p>"Then how come we've never heard of you?" Dream asked. The Lady raised her eyebrow.</p><p>"Because we're very good at our job," she said, as though she were clarifying something to a child.</p><p>Dream frowned, <em>how on earth was that an answe- Ohhh.</em> He felt like an idiot. They were spies, and their job is to stay in the shadows- of course he'd never heard of them. </p><p>He thought back of the logo he had just seen. SMP. The eye. Well shit, were these guys actually some sort of spies? What had he gotten himself into? They were wanted by spies? They hadn't stolen nuclear codes or shit, all they had stolen was a diamond for god's sake! (ok, stealing a diamond wasn't that small of a deal either, but it didn't exactly make you on top of the hit list of a <em>spy organization!)</em></p><p><em>"Where are you taking us?!"</em> Suddenly, a new voice echoed in the hallway, and all of them turned to look. There were footsteps approaching from the corridor at the far end, shadows growing. But what made really Dream bristle was the familiarity of the voice- <em>he knew that person.</em> He couldn't place the face, but he knew whoever it was. <em>What...?</em></p><p>"Calm down, Tommy," a 2nd voice said, this one older, and Dream felt his eyes widen. <em>What the actual hell? That was-!</em></p><p>"Listen to Gus," the pink-haired man said to the younger boy, who was attempting to protest. "If he's got to show us something, let's see it. If it's a trick, well, then," there was a pause, and Dream could make him out smiling. "We can always kill him."</p><p>"Nobody's killing anybody," the older blond said in a stern voice. The former sighed.</p><p>"You're sucking out the fun, Dadza," the man grumbled. "You gotta-"</p><p><em>"Technoblade?"</em> Dream heard Sapnap yell incredulously from beside him, and the pinkette turned towards them.</p><p>Dream saw a lot of emotions fly over Techno's face- startled, confusion, recognition, shock, more confusion- before his gaze landed on Dream, and his expression turned unreadable. A lot like Dream's own expression. </p><p>"What the fuck," Tommy drawled out from beside him, then elbowed the other figure he was standing next to. "You seeing this, Tubbo?"</p><p>"Yeah," Tubbo said, his eyes wide. "Is that..."</p><p>"Dream?" Wilbur said, in a slightly unsure tone. Philza looked at them, equally confused and shocked.</p><p>The Sleepy Bois looked at the Dream Team across the hallway, both parties in an equal mix. Then, Dream turns towards the Lady.</p><p>"Ok," he said. "I think you need to explain what the fuck is going on."</p><p>The Lady had drawn herself up tall, shoulders straight. She strode forward, standing between both the groups, and addressed to them calmly.</p><p>"I think that I owe you gentlemen an explanation," she said, her voice strong. Besides Dream, Sapnap muttered <em>"no shit".</em></p><p>"There has been lot's of misunderstandings, confusion, and hard feelings at first, and I agree that is not the best first impression to set, so let me start afresh:"</p><p>"We are the SMP," she said. "And we need your help."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I think I'm going to be posting my chapters in shorter formats now, cuz I want this fic to be longer and more suspenseful<br/>Bleugh. A sick mind doesn't help much with writing. I think sometime later, when I'm feeling better, I'll edit these chapters and make them much more refined. For now, I'm sorry that you have to put up with this *apologetic laugh*<br/>It will get more... detail heavy in the next chapter, 'cuz that's when the proper "spy movie elements" enter the story</p><p>Stay tuned for the next chapter! If you're enjoying this so far, it won't hurt to give a kudos! Comment if you want to see anything special in this fic later!<br/>Sayonara for now!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A/N</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a small note!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sup y'all!</p><p>I know, I know, I haven't updated in a long time, but don't worry- I have NOT left this fic! No siree! Not after so much of work!</p><p>I've just put this on a hiatus for a little while. I have my exams the next month, and I'm going through a slightly rough spot at the moment, so I just need some time to myself to study and recover. I have a lot planned for this, and I intend on finishing what I started!</p><p>I will resume this as soon as I can, definitely from next month, sometime whilst mid-month.</p><p>If you're enjoying this fic, maybe leave a kudos? I really appreciate comments as they help me interact with my readers- feel free to tell me what all you would like in the future or just chat wimme! Also, consider subscribing for the next update- it's free, and you can always change your mind!</p><p>(yes I just used Dream's intro. sue me.)</p><p>Adíos por ahora! Hope you guys have a great day!</p><p>(also Dream and Techno blow up L'manburg <em>whaaaaaat-)</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ayyyy! A chappie down!<br/>If you're liking this so far, please do drop in a kudos! Comments make my day! Feel free to tell to tell me how you liked this, what else you'd like, or maybe just how's your day going!<br/>Also, I don't have a beta, so feel free to point out any mistakes!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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